CECA Southern Executive Director David Allen attended the third Thames Valley Defence Forum on 5th June. The event was introduced and hosted by Juliette Wilcox CMG, President of Ultra Cyber Ltd, and David Saab, Business Alliance Manager at TVCC.
Guest speaker, Jacob Cooney, SME Engagement Project Manager at National Armaments International (MOD), provided an overview of opportunities for SMEs from an MOD export and international perspective. He encouraged SMEs interested in these opportunities to contact his team to better understand the support available for overseas markets.
Further speakers, Catherine Proudlove and Andy Webling, both SME Leads for Defence Commercial at the Ministry of Defence, discussed the SME perspective within MOD commercial activity. They noted that a draft SME Plan has been developed but is awaiting approval as part of the Defence Infrastructure Plan. They also highlighted the Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) as the primary source for SMEs seeking MOD opportunities. The portal enables businesses to view current opportunities and identify where prime contractors have already secured work. Members can find the post-event briefing note here.