On day one, personnel from leading Swiss companies and organisations, including Swissmem, a leading association, convened at the Airshow’s Swiss Pavilion. There, the delegation joined several Swiss exhibitors and worldwide attendees for the official opening of the Pavilion by the Swiss Defence Attaché to the UK, Colonel Bernard Jeanty, and Natalie Thomas, Head of the Swiss Business Hub UK. Swissmem’s Secretary General, Matthias Zoller, also made a brief speech to welcome Switzerland’s broader trade promotion during Farnborough. SBH UK then led the delegation on an Airshow tour by the region’s leading trade association, Farnborough Aerospace Consortium. The consortium’s CEO Alan Fisher walked the delegates through quickfire pitches by association members. This provided insights on the UK’s aerospace sector in Farnborough for the delegation, who were inquisitive regarding possible trade opportunities. In a highlight of the mission’s programme, the group were then hosted by BAE Systems for a private meeting and an interactive Pavilion tour and Q&A session. The significant expertise and industry insights of BAE Systems, the UK’s largest manufacturer since 2017, were offered to our visiting companies. To conclude the day’s findings, a Swiss-UK drinks reception was held for the Swiss delegation and Swiss Pavilion members as well as selected senior guests from the UK: high net worth individuals, trade associations, businesses and universities. We were delighted to have had the Department of Business and Trade support SBH UK at the evening reception.

On day two, SBH UK and the delegation went on site visits around Oxfordshire. The stakeholder visit was to Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, which hosts 240+ cross-sector organisations, including Thales Alenia Space UK, the UK Health Security Agency and the European Space Agency. Harwell introduced the trade delegation to the campus’s multi-functionality and Royal Air Force origin, as well as key facts and figures. The CEO of Thales Alenia Space UK gave insightful updates and predictions on the space and aerospace industries, and clarified the campus’s success in making innovational interdisciplinary research. Oxford Space Systems then delivered a tour of their research site, before ISIS Neutron and Muon Source showed the participants around the impressive site. Both hosts made the connection between scientific research and business client demands, providing an honest insight for the delegation SMEs. The last site visit was to 3T Additive Manufacturing, a metal parts manufacturer, with success in UK public sector collaboration. It was appreciated that the Department of Business and Trade helped organize this visit. The visit demonstrated the UK expertise on show and provided a clear overview for our group members of the UK supply chain for additive manufacturing. One participating Swiss company in particular, which is closely aligned with 3T AM’s sector, gained from one-on-one interactions on-site.