The programme is part of the Offshore Wind Industry Council-funded OWGP programme and will support the offshore wind industry to meet the targets laid out in its Sector Deal to increase UK content in new wind farm developments and achieve a fivefold increase in exports to £2.6bn a year by 2030. The target is for an increase in total lifetime UK content to 60% by 2030, including increases in the capital expenditure phase – it is currently 50%.
The first two pilot calls under the new SiG programme received project proposals with total budget of almost £2m. Assessment is currently underway to select the winning projects within the £400k funding budget and these will be announced in December.
Sharing in Growth is an intensive business transformation initiative that was established in 2013 to transform the productivity of the UK aerospace sector in the face of increasing global competition. Since then it has supported over 60 companies and led to over £4bn worth of contracts secured. Growth in terms of sales and net worth of companies supported by Sharing in Growth has substantially outpaced other companies in the sector.
Andrew Macdonald, OWGP Programme Director, said: “The OWGP was established as part of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal to promote closer collaboration across the supply chain, implement structured productivity improvement programmes and facilitate shared growth opportunities between developers and their supply chain.
“This partnership with the Sharing in Growth Programme provides the ideal framework within which we can work with a cohort of companies to increase their competitiveness, supporting continued cost reduction in offshore wind whilst simultaneously securing long-term economic benefits.”
Martin Whitmarsh, chair of OWGP said: “As offshore wind grows and matures as a UK industrial success story, we want to ensure that we maximise the learning from other successful sectors and the business improvement programmes that they run, applying that knowledge to our offshore wind sector.
“The Sharing in Growth programme has been an undoubted success in transforming the UK’s aerospace sector and we’re confident that applying the same principles to offshore wind will produce similar industry successes.”
Sharing in Growth CEO Andy Page commented: “Offshore wind provides a great opportunity for UK energy supply and also for UK high value manufacturing. Sharing in Growth was set up as an innovative and pervasive programme specifically designed and delivered to address the needs of ambitious manufacturing companies. I am delighted that we can use our experience, from sectors such as aerospace, to apply to other areas of strategic importance and to support more companies in beating the productivity challenge.”
