A delegation from Wolverhampton City Council's Business Development Team and the University of Wolverhampton will be joining representatives from aerospace giants Moog and UTC Aerospace Systems to highlight opportunities for companies to do business in the city.
Wolverhampton's aerospace industry already generates turnover of nearly £1 billion a year, but the city council has ambitious plans to attract even more businesses to the area and create one of the biggest industrial aerospace clusters in Europe by 2020.
The city will have a significant presence at the week long Farnborough Air Show, the UK's biggest air industry event, as part of the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, a major trade association for the sector in the region.
And in partnership with Moog and UTC the delegation will be hosting a special event aimed at companies in the supply chain, highlighting investment opportunities and the support available locally as well as the role the university plays in helping to develop a highly skilled workforce through its specialist engineering degrees and high quality research and development facilities.
Councillor Peter Bilson, Wolverhampton City Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Enterprise, said: "The aerospace industry is a key business sector for Wolverhampton - it generates a combined turnover of nearly £1 billion a year, and employs around 2,000 people. Our ambitions are for our aerospace cluster to be the number one cluster in Europe by 2020.
"We've seen some significant developments over the last few years, such as Moog relocating to i54 and the merger of HS Marston and Goodrich to create UTC Aerospace Systems, and have received delegations from India who are interested in the aerospace sector.
"We're keen to keep the momentum going and to show to the world that we can match anywhere, and we will be using Farnborough to promote Wolverhampton as a key destination for advanced engineering businesses."
Marc Fleetham, The University of Wolverhampton's Director of Business Solutions, added: "The University of Wolverhampton is delighted and honoured to be supporting our highly successful aerospace sector.
"As one of the UK's leading business-facing universities we pride ourselves with working with and supporting our local businesses to equip them with the skills and knowledge they require to become the best of the best. The opportunity to support inward investment events like the Farnborough Air Show underpins and strengthens regional business excellence, which we are proud to be a part of."
The council has exhibited twice at the bi-annual show before, in 2010, when it was supported by the Wolverhampton Business Champions group, and in 2012 in partnership with the Black Country Consortium and Marketing Birmingham.
Its previous appearances have enabled the council to showcase the city's aerospace cluster to an international audience, promote Wolverhampton's enterprise zone and highlight the support that the council can give to other aerospace companies wishing to do business in Wolverhampton.
This year's event takes place from Monday to Friday, 14 to 18 July, 2014.
- released: Friday 11 July, 2014