A briefing from the opening panel of the Scottish Defence Procurement and Supply Chain Summit, Glasgow
The opening panel of the inaugural Scottish Defence Summit set out to answer one of the most consequential questions in UK defence right now: how do we ensure that the new wave of defence investment translates into genuine economic prosperity across the whole of Scotland? Chaired by Emma Baker, Senior Defence Policy Advisor at ADS, the panel brought together a cross-section of government, military, prime contractor and economic development perspectives.
The panel comprised:
- Brigadier Andrew Muddiman, representing the Royal Navy in Scotland
- Calum Taylor, Head of Place and Industry Skills, Ministry of Defence
- Mark Stead, SVP for Radars and Advanced Targeting, Leonardo (and CEO, ADS Scotland)
- Stewart MacPherson, Director of Digital Strategy, Thales UK
- Rhona Allison, Managing Director of Productivity and Business Growth, Scottish Enterprise
Emma Baker framed the discussion squarely. With a £50 million Scotland Defence Growth Deal sitting alongside a wider uplift in MOD investment, “the opportunity is clear. Defence isn’t just a security imperative – it’s a major driver of economic growth, jobs and regional prosperity.” Scotland already has a remarkable foundation – shipbuilding, sensors, digital systems, space, supported by world-class universities – but the question is how that foundation is now extended into more communities and more SMEs.
The strategic context: a different paradigm
Brigadier Muddiman opened by reminding the room why this conversation is so urgent. The Royal Navy is seeing significantly increased levels of activity and operational tempo, “particularly in the North Atlantic,” with Russian incursions into UK and NATO waters at levels “we wouldn’t have seen five years ago.” Last year alone, the Royal Navy committed roughly £100 million to its Scottish portfolio, on the back of a sustained programme of capability investment.
The Brigadier was clear that responding to this changing environment “requires a full-spectrum response” and a different industrial answer. “From a technological standpoint, that makes us in Scotland think hard about how we get to warfighting readiness by 2029.” Hybrid crewed and uncrewed systems will be central – including platforms like the Excalibur extra-large uncrewed undersea vehicle (XLUUV), a 12-metre system developed by MSubs in Plymouth, where the south-west’s own defence growth deal is focused on maritime autonomy.
That, he said, is exactly the kind of capability output Scotland’s Defence Growth Deal must produce – and he was pleased to see SMEs across Scotland already responding to the call put out by the Scottish maritime cluster.
The growth deal in practice – and skills at the centre
Calum Taylor used his time to draw the threads between the keynote and the panel’s central question. The Scotland Defence Growth Deal is fundamentally about creating “the industrial ecosystem here in Scotland that helps you grow as industry – and provides the services here with the capabilities they need.” Within that, the £182 million skills package is the engine.
Taylor described three practical strands. First, access to careers through the new Destination Defence platform and the defence learning route launching on UCAS later this year. Second, strengthening educational provision – the Defence Technical Excellence Colleges (D-TECs) flagged by Defence Minister Luke Pollard, alongside a new strategic framework with universities through the Defence Sector Funding programme, with founding member announcements expected next month. Third, retaining and mobilising talent, particularly from those transitioning out of service.
The industrial perspective: a team sport
Mark Stead, speaking both for Leonardo and for ADS Scotland, was direct about the imperative for collaboration. “We live and work on a global stage,” he reminded the room. “We must not forget that. We cannot deliver investment in Scotland alone.” Leonardo’s Scottish programmes – Typhoon, T-CAP, Gripen, the airborne radar portfolio – are export-critical, and the supply chain needs to be open to global as much as domestic opportunity.
Mark was equally direct about the responsibility primes carry. “We need to draw clear lines on what we should do in-house and what we shouldn’t, and look outside of our walls to help build that capacity in the supply chain.” Leonardo runs supplier open days and engagement events through its category managers – but more is needed, “and we need to know clearly what you bring to the table that’s different.”
The Thales playbook: global SMEs and embedded brokers
Stewart MacPherson, Director of Digital Strategy at Thales UK, took up that theme with a concrete example. Following Chancellor Merz’s announcement of a €2 billion investment in defence capability in Germany, Thales has been actively brokering supply chain opportunities to Scottish-based suppliers. He pointed to Hensoldt (formerly Carl Zeiss) in Glasgow, which had to scale optics capacity rapidly – and is now sourcing sub-optic components from Scottish suppliers.
He also offered the room one of the most practically useful ideas of the morning: the Thales Australia model, where the Australian government places industry-engagement staff inside Thales’s business to look for export opportunities across the wider Thales group worldwide. “Their job is to look at the Thales Australia supply chain and find opportunities for different parts of the Thales group in 80 different countries. It works very well – and it would be a valuable thing to do in Scotland.”
SME access: be clear, build credibility, invest in skills
Rhona Allison set out Scottish Enterprise’s perspective on what SMEs need to do – and what is available to help them. Her advice resolved into three things SMEs can do immediately:
- Be clear about your capability and where you fit. Use the MOD’s published programmes and the National Shipbuilding Strategy to map your offer to demand.
- Build the credentials and pursue the visibility. Pick up the phone to tier 1 and tier 2 organisations, get yourself known, and treat adjacent sectors (energy, advanced manufacturing) as proof points of relevant capability.
- Invest in skills. “Don’t just see it as an operational exercise – see it as strategic investment.”
She also emphasised what Scottish Enterprise itself can offer: innovation hubs, the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) testbeds, finance and investment advice, and 30 staff across 23 countries supporting international growth.
SMEs in the supply chain: the candid floor
The most candid moment came in the Q&A. A senior SME representative in the audience put the question many in the room came to ask: “We’ve been trying for 18 months to get a point of contact with a prime. We hold AS9100, IATF 16949, all the accreditations. We have capacity, capability, flexibility. Why can’t we get a call back?”
Mark Stead acknowledged the issue squarely: “I hear you loud and clear. There’s a lot more work to be done.” Leonardo, he said, is consciously building category-manager and supplier open-day channels – but accepted the panel needed to take the challenge back. Stewart MacPherson pointed to the Thales Strategic Programmes initiative and the new Thales Working Ecosystem for SMEs – designed specifically to bring SMEs into the building, alongside Thales decision-makers. The Belfast Hurst programme – £1.6 billion of protective systems for Ukraine – was offered as a worked example: moving production from tens to hundreds per month required Thales to invest in its supply chain agility, not just demand it.
Spreading the benefit across Scotland
The panel closed with a discussion of how the prosperity benefit can be distributed beyond the existing defence hubs. Brigadier Muddiman made a particularly important point: secure, lower-population areas in the north of Scotland are inherently attractive locations for some defence activities – but only if the local skills and academic ecosystem is in place. “If we want to base something exceptional in a more remote location, we have to have a skills cluster there, and local advice and support.” That, he said, is exactly the gap the D-TEC concept is designed to fill.
Mark Stead urged the room to be confident in articulating the case locally – to MSPs, MPs, councils and chief executives. “Where would we be if we didn’t shout about it? Defence and aerospace is a rapidly growing sector. We need to talk about that in every part of Scotland.” He also flagged a specific opportunity north of the border into Northern Ireland, where Leonardo already has presence and where supply chain links are stronger than the geography might suggest.
Calum Taylor closed the panel with a reminder that the MOD is actively working to crowd in private investment through a Defence Investors Advisory Group, with a new financing and investment strategy due in the coming months – alongside Scottish Government funding channels that will increasingly support defence-relevant companies.
The takeaway
The first panel of SDS made one thing very plain: the willingness to deliver on the prosperity opportunity is there across government, military and industry. The remaining work is mechanical – making the routes into the supply chain easier to navigate, building the skills clusters in the right places, and putting the brokerage and engagement structures in place that allow capable SMEs to find their first contract faster.
The conversations that started in Glasgow this year will continue at SDS27. If you are an SME with the credentials and a capability story to tell, that is the room you need to be in. Register your interest now.
The Scottish Defence Procurement and Supply Chain Summit was delivered by BIP Solutions in partnership with ADS Scotland. To stay engaged with the dialogue between events and to register early interest in SDS27, visit dprte.co.uk.
