Boeing UK
Boeing United Kingdom Limited is a subsidiary of Boeing that operates in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The managing director of Boeing UK & Ireland is Sir Martin Donnelly, a former British civil servant, who is also president of Boeing Europe. Donnelly succeeded Sir Michael Arthur who had been in the roles since 2014 after he was appointed president of Boeing International. Boeing UK has approximately 2,500 employees accounting for 54% of Boeing’s European workforce. The company operates in more than 65 locations across the United Kingdom and Ireland including Bristol, Fleet, Frimley, Farnborough, Gosport, Yeovil, Salisbury and Manchester, with its primary headquarters located in Westminster.
Boeing UK engages in educational projects related to aerospace, working alongside charity partners such as the Royal Aeronautical Society, The Air League and Royal Air Force. Outside of aerospace, Boeing UK has supported charities such as the Earth Restoration Service, The Prince's Trust and the Royal Academy of Engineering, funding environmental programmes and STEM-based projects. Boeing UK has more than 200 UK suppliers and strategic partnerships with six universities.
History
1930s to 1940s
In June 1939, Pan American Airways introduced its first transatlantic northern mail service, using a Boeing 314 that would deliver mail from New York to Southampton in the UK. That same month, Pan Am also announced that it was using another Boeing 314 for its first regular passenger air service.Boeing increased its cooperation with the British Government in 1941 by supplying three Boeing 314A aircraft which were allotted to The British Overseas Airways Corporation for use as transport aircraft. Winston Churchill was the first world leader to make a transatlantic air trip aboard BOAC's Boeing 314 "Berwick" in 1942. The Eighth Air Force, formed in the US in 1941, was equipped with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress' which participated in bombing raids on German targets in Europe while based in England. Boeing built 380 of the Douglas-designed A-20 Havoc, an aircraft that served under the Royal Air Force during World War II.
1980s to 1990s
After World War II, Boeing's business relationship with the UK did not begin again until the 1980s, with the exception of BOAC introducing the Boeing 707-436 to its aircraft line-up in 1960. The now defunct British Airways Helicopters bought six Vertol 234 Commercial Chinooks in 1981, providing services to offshore gas and oil platforms until the company was sold by British Airways in 1986. Rolls-Royce began testing and developing the RB211-534E4 turbofan engine in 1983 and was the engine used on the Boeing 757, generating over 40,000+ hours of on-wing life without removal. In 1988, Air United Kingdom became the first airline to operate the Boeing 737-400 outside of the US and later used the Boeing 767-300 ER series in 1993 for its subsidiary, Air UK Leisure.2000s to 2010
In 2001, the Royal Air Force received its first Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. It was delivered to Boeing's Long Beach facility before being flown to RAF Brize Norton by a crew from No. 99 Squadron, with the remaining C-17s being delivered shortly after. The C-17 was well received by the RAF and the Ministry of Defence announced in 2004 that they had intended to buy the four C-17s at the end of the lease. Boeing received further orders from the MOD in 2006, 2007 and 2009.Boeing founded Boeing United Kingdom Limited as a legal entity in January 2002 and in April 2003 Boeing named Sir Michael Jenkins as the first president of Boeing UK.
In 2004, Boeing began to expand its presence in the UK by announcing its £7 million investment to build a new training centre at Crawley, West Sussex, close to London Gatwick. The move was to allow more convenient travel for those who required training in Europe, instead of travelling to Seattle, U.S. In September 2005, Sir Roger Bone succeeded Michael Jenkins as president of Boeing UK. Boeing opened its European Sales and Marketing Headquarters at Heathrow House, moving further operations from the U.S. to the UK. In 2007, Boeing opened its Defence Systems Engineering and Integration facility in Bristol and in 2009 integrated all UK defence programs under one entity by establishing Boeing Defence UK. This enabled defence operations in the UK to be localised and more efficient.
2010 to present
In September 2014, Roger Bone retired as president of Boeing UK and was succeeded by Michael Arthur.At the Farnborough Airshow in 2016, the UK government and Boeing announced a partnering initiative to advance growth and prosperity in the United Kingdom. The initiative required Boeing to increase overall bid opportunities offered to UK suppliers; make the UK its European base for training, maintenance, repair and overhaul across its defence fixed-wing and rotary platforms; and sign the Aerospace Growth Partnership Supply Chain Competitiveness Charter. In 2018, building on the partnering initiative, Boeing founded the Office of UK Industrial Capability, an enterprise team composed of representatives from St. Louis and the UK that promotes UK innovation and supply chain competitiveness around the world. Based in Seattle, United States, the OUKIC helps British companies increase bid opportunities across defence and commercial aerospace. The OUKIC is supported by a Steering Committee of senior leaders from across the British Government and Boeing.
In 2017 Boeing received planning permission to build a new hangar at London Gatwick, an investment of £88 million. Boeing UK opened its first European manufacturing site in 2018 in Sheffield, producing commercial aircraft components for its 737 and 767 aircraft.
HorizonX, Boeing's venture capital arm which invests in start-ups related to aerospace, made its first investment in the UK to Reaction Engines in April 2018, a hypersonic propulsion company developing a hybrid jet and rocket engine. In March 2019, HorizonX invested $14 million in London-based start-up Isotropic Systems, alongside granting the company access to Boeing experts, test labs, and other resources. The company develops modular antenna systems for satellite communications and its user terminals use electronics instead of mechanical dishes to link with satellites, enabling communications with two or more spacecraft simultaneously.
In March 2019, Boeing was selected to provide five Boeing 737 AEW&C to the Royal Air Force, replacing the Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft currently in service
Michael Arthur succeeds Marc Allen as president of Boeing International in April 2019, becoming the first non-U.S. citizen to join the company's executive council. In June, Sir Martin Donnelly is appointed the new managing director of Boeing UK & Ireland and president of Boeing Europe.
Boeing Defence UK
Boeing Defence UK is a subsidiary of Boeing that provides maintenance, support and training services. It has more than 1,400 employees at 25 locations supporting Ministry of Defence programmes such as Apache attack helicopters, Chinook, C-17 and P-8A. Since 2019, Anna Keeling serves as the current managing director of BDUK. BDUK consists of four business units: MOD Services, training, government services and advanced programmes.History
Boeing Defence UK was established in 1976 as a legal entity to localise the company's defence programmes and in 2008 Boeing fully integrated all of its defence programmes into BDUK.Michael Kurth was named the first managing director of BDUK in 2007 upon the integration of Boeing's defence programmes and the restructuring of BDUK as a subsidiary.
In 2009, the company announced the establishment of UK Rotorcraft Support, an organisation focused on providing increased capability to the UK military rotorcraft fleet. RCS provides support for the UK’s fleet of 60+ Chinook helicopters with the Through Life Customer Support, Digital Automatic Flight Control System and Chinook Engine Support Arrangement.
In partnership with the American manufacturing company John Deere, BDUK developed the R-Gator A3 Assisted Carriage System in 2011. The R-Gator A3 ACS is based on John Deere’s R-Gator robotic utility vehicle and was designed to help reduce the amount of weight soldiers have to carry in the field.
BDUK was the first company to sign up to the MOD new Defence and Security Industrial Engagement Policy in 2012, a policy encouraging overseas-based companies to make a firm commitment to continue business activities in the United Kingdom for the long term.
In 2013, the MOD contracted BDUK and Boeing's subsidiary Insitu for the supply of the ScanEagle unmanned aerial system as a maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance asset. It was the first drone to be used by the Royal Navy and the contract was worth £30 million.
In April 2016 BDUK was awarded a contract to become strategic IT partner to Staffordshire Police. BDUK provided the sound effects of the interior helicopter cabin for the Virtual Reality Chinook project that was created to help train medical personnel of the UK Armed Forces in June 2016. The same year, BDUK was given a Gold Award by Sir Michael Fallon in recognition of supporting Armed Forces personnel and their families under the Employer Recognition Scheme. Boeing was awarded a contract for the purchase of 50 Apache AH-64Es in 2016.