Babcock Chair, Ruth Cairnie, explains the importance of the Oxford Economics social and economic impact report

At Babcock we are led by our Purpose: to create a safe and secure world, together. We are a UK-headquartered international defence company with a long history of supporting the Armed Forces and critical services which keep people safe. In a world where threats to national security are evolving, I’m proud of the significant role we play in assuring the stability of the UK, and of all the countries we support.

Our Purpose reflects our commitment to making a positive contribution to the communities in which we operate, providing high-quality jobs and delivering social and economic sustainability. That is why we have asked Oxford Economics to develop an independent analysis of the true economic value of that contribution. We also asked them to assess the social value we generate through the lens of the UK Government’s Social Value Model. The UK is both our home and our primary market. We are the UK’s second largest defence supplier. Our work with the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force accounts for around 8 per cent of the Ministry of Defence’s total procurement spend. We work with the MOD across more critical programmes than any other company. Our facilities and skills directly support the UK’s shipbuilding strategy and are at the heart of local economies and communities, often securing jobs and upskilling where it’s needed most. We also play a leading role in the UK civil nuclear industry and are a proud partner to our UK emergency services.

This report demonstrates that in FY2022, Babcock contributed £3.3bn to GDP, £770m in tax and supported nearly 57,000 jobs in the UK. Just under half of our 22,000 UK workforce are in skilled technical roles. And we are nurturing the next generation of technicians, engineers, data scientists and business leaders with around 1,250 people on our graduate and apprentice training programmes. Over a fifth of our procurement spending was with suppliers in areas classified as a ‘high priority’ for the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund and we are supporting thousands of UK small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the supply chain. Our commitment to delivering value to society also drives the action we are taking to fight climate change, tackle economic inequality, support the recovery from Covid-19, improve equality of opportunity and increase wellbeing. As we shape our business for future growth, I am determined to ensure that we continue to make a significant contribution to the UK and to the communities we are proud to serve.