General Dynamics UK supports the country’s defence capabilities through the products and services it supplies to the British Armed Forces and allied forces around the world.
In 2020, we contributed a total of £620M to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) including £170M in direct contributions to the UK economy. We indirectly support thousands of jobs by spending hundreds of millions of pounds with hundreds of UK-based suppliers to secure the goods and services we require to run our operations. In 2020, General Dynamics UK spent £300M with 790 UK suppliers, 560 of which were SMEs. Productivity at General Dynamics UK in 2020—measured as GVA per worker—was £117,400. This is more than twice the UK average, and nearly 75% higher than the UK manufacturing average.
Our Bowman communications systems is the digital backbone of the British Army’s tactical communications system. It includes the digitisation of more than 18,000 platforms, including vehicles, helicopters, naval vessels, landing craft and fixed HQ buildings. Recognised as a world-leading capability, it has been deployed on thousands of vehicles and supported deployed operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Estonia, Falklands, Mali, and across Eastern Europe.
We take pride in our investment in our communities and support many charitable causes, as well as, contributing to the local economy through high-skilled, well-paid jobs.
General Dynamics in Wales
Our headquarters is nestled in the Welsh Valleys, an area that historically thrived on the mining industry. Today, we hold a significant presence and play a vital role in the local economy.
Oakdale Colliery once stood less than a mile from our Oakdale site. At it speak it employed over 2000 and produced 1 million tons of coal per year. Mining was the soul of the Welsh community and without it, the towns and people are still feeling that loss today.
Today, we employ hundreds of highly skilled individuals across our Oakdale and Merthyr Tydfil sites, and remain dedicated to bringing well-paying, skilled jobs to the area. Our people are at the heart of what we do and our success is a credit to the skills, hard work and expertise of our colleagues from the local area.
We are invested in the future of Wales through initiatives such as our graduate scheme, apprenticeship programme, youth in STEM outreach, and our recent partnership with the Coalfields Regeneration Trust.
Productivity – measured in GDP per worker – was more than double the average in the local economy, with GDUK employees generating £123,300 in GDP as compared to £48,500 in the local economy.
General Dynamics in England
Our sites in Hastings, East Sussex, provide leading avionic systems onto the Eurofighter Typhoon, Tornado, AgustaWestland AW101 Mk 3 and Mk4, and AW159 Wildcat (Future Lynx) platforms, as well as manufacturing and maintaining tactical communications equipment for ground vehicles.
Our impact on the local economy is significant, with £700k spent with local suppliers in 2020, and productivity – measured as GDP per worker – nearly double the local average. Forty per cent of our local employees are in high-skilled engineering jobs with an average wage eight per cent higher than the local average.