UK industry received a major boost after Airbus boss Guillaume Faury said it had ‘turned the page’ on its opposition to Brexit and pledged to keep aircraft wing production in Britain.
The Toulouse-based plane maker issued dire warnings about the potential impact of leaving the European Union, raising fears for the future of the plant in Broughton, north Wales, where almost 5,000 people build wings.
But yesterday Faury, speaking to London executives at the UK Aviation Club, said it would stay in Wales – and depended heavily on UK engine-maker Rolls-Royce.
Airbus said it will continue to build all its wings in Wales adding that it depended heavily on UK engine-maker Rolls-Royce
‘We don’t intend to change this,’ he said. He was understood to have met Prime Minister Liz Truss and Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg afterwards.
A source said: ‘It’s all part of this government’s mission to drive investment and opportunity for the country, boost growth and create new and better jobs.’
Truss has made growth the core of her agenda but yesterday’s GDP data showed the economy shrank in August.
Separate data this week showed unemployment at its lowest level in nearly 50 years.
Airbus employs nearly 11,000 people in the UK at more than 20 sites. More than 86,000 further supply chain jobs depend on its operations, which have an annual UK turnover of more than £4billion.
In 2019, Airbus called the handling of Brexit a ‘disgrace’ and warned it could pull out of the UK.
Then chief executive Tom Enders said: ‘Please don’t listen to the Brexiteers’ madness, which asserts that because we have huge plants here we will not move and we will always be here.
.They are wrong.’
