SC21 C&G – Applications closed

Expressions of Interest for Government funding has now closed

SC21 Competitiveness & Growth (C&G) Programme

Expressions of Interest for C&G are now closed; however, you can still join the SC21 Operational Excellence programme.

Launched in 2019, over 40 Aerospace supply chain organisations have benefited from participating in the Government funded SC21 Competitiveness & Growth Programme.
Activity on the programme ends by 30th March 2022.
The aim of the C&G this programme has been to accelerate the competitiveness and growth performance of organisations to better secure existing and future business opportunities, both domestic and global, in the aerospace sector.

The UK government made available over £3m of grant aid to support productivity improvements in the UK Aerospace Sector. This grant aid has been managed by ADS via the SC21 Competitiveness and Growth Programme over a 3-year period commencing April 2019.

Despite the pandemic over 40 eligible companies received funding. See graphic below to see some of the benefits the Programme has delivered.

To have been eligible for this funding organisations had to supply goods or services into the Aerospace sector (defence or civil) which are aligned with the Government’s Aerospace Industrial Strategy. You had to be prepared to undergo business due diligence, anti-laundering checks and commit to matching the government aid provided to you, by investing in the time necessary in training mentoring and coaching of your staff. This element formed part of the sector’s Industrial contribution.

The selection process consisted of profiling assessment review to establish your readiness, ambition and suitability. This included the current level of performance as part of your current improvement programme / SC21 maturity, financial business due diligence and solvency and liquidity risk assessments to ensure potential participants were eligible robust businesses and finally an endorsement by the SC21 Aerospace and Defence Sector Board, accountable body and programme office.

The closing date to express your interest was 31 November 2021.

The beneficiary had to be; –

  • Located in the UK.
  • A manufacturers or processors within the Aerospace and the Defence Aerospace sectors of one or more of the following products.
  • Aligned with the Aerospace Sector Deal.
  • Able to satisfy Financial Due Diligence checks undertaken by the Accounting Body.
  • Able to satisfy Anti Money Laundering checks (Know Your Customer- KYC) undertaken by the Accounting Body.
  • Willing to undertake an agreed improvement project in the UK.
  • Willing to meet their obligations set out in the Beneficiary Agreement.
  • Be endorsed for suitability by the Grant Authority.
  • Be endorsed for suitability at Main Gate by the Aerospace Sector board/BEIS.
  • Willing to commit to increase productivity and growth.
  • Willing to commit to increase firm level GVA and profitably.
  • Have evidence of Continuous Improvement (CI) projects.
  • Have evidence of good Delivery and Quality performance to their customers.
  • Invest in innovation and Research and development.
  • Be targeting business growth within the next 3 years.
  • Exploit the results from or in the UK.
  • Invest in technical education and skills to support high value jobs.

The SC21 Competitiveness & Growth (C&G) programme is the Aerospace sector’s deployment mechanism of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Level (NMCL) system.
The automotive sector equivalent programme, NMCL Automotive, was announced in the 2018 Automotive Sector Deal, and managed by SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders).

NMCL system been jointly developed by ADS (ADS Group Ltd) and SMMT.
The aim of NMCL is to have a single, national, quality assured, best practice approach to improving the competitiveness of manufacturing supply chain companies, this will raise workforce capability and boost economic growth and exports. Thus, helping to deliver HM Government’s Industrial Strategy and the goals of each sector’s Growth Strategies.
The process that participants follow covers a standardised Capability Assessment undertaken by accredited assessors, a self-review of Competitiveness against peers, and a Competitiveness review against peers by 3 nominated customers. The output of these is combined to develop an improvement plan and a credible financial business case with the participant. The business case will point to improvements that can be made by embedding key skills into the organisation through training, coaching, and mentoring.
To ensure a common approach is used across the sectors, a syllabus of 122 distinct Improvement Modules has been developed which cover 4 key areas of a business, Competitive Strategy & Management Systems, New Product Introduction, Manufacturing Operations and Supply Chain.