Firm lands £780m jets deal

A Scottish engineering firm has promised to create jobs after signing a £780million deal to provide plane engine parts to a major US firm.

MB Aerospace said it plans to recruit more than 100 new staff as part of the ten-year agreement with Pratt & Whitney, a division of United technologies corporation (Utc).

the company, based in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, described the contract as a ‘milestone opportunity’.

the MB Aerospace group employs 1,600 people in the UK, US and Poland. chief executive craig Gallagher said: ‘We are hugely respectful of the trust placed in us by United technologies corporation and Pratt & Whitney to support their programmes.

‘MB Aerospace and Utc already possess a strong working relationship and this contract represents a milestone opportunity for our world-class teams to support Utc.’

he said the group had already invested more than £50million in technology and facilities. Mr Gallagher added: ‘included in our investment in people is a groundbreaking engineering services team of more than 40 technical and programming specialists to support each of our business units from a central hub located in Rzeszow, Poland.

‘We plan to grow this team to at least 100 engineering specialists to support our customers through the intense period of growth facing the industry in the next three to five years.’

Pratt & Whitney mainly provides aircraft engines to commercial airlines in America.

Sam Abdelmalek, company vice-president, said: ‘We value our long-standing relationship, and MB Aerospace is a critical supplier in our worldclass supply chain.

‘As Pratt & Whitney strives for supply chain excellence, suppliers like MB Aerospace will have opportunities to grow with us.’