Aerospace group Airbus is to build an industry-leading £38m wing testing centre at its giant Filton, Bristol, plant, it said yesterday in an announcement timed to coincide with a visit by Chancellor George Osborne.
Some £18.6m of the investment in the new wing integration centre at Filton will come from a Government scheme to boost the UK aerospace sector – a move Mr Osborne stressed demonstrated the Government’s commitment to British manufacturing. 
The centre, which will open next year, will feature the latest stress-testing technology to speed up and improve structural testing of Airbus aircraft wings, fuel systems and landing gear. It will house a massive ‘strong’ wall and floor capable of testing a complete aircraft wing as well as large one-off test rigs for new materials and wing parts for next-generation planes assembled, as one Airbus executive described, like a “giant Meccano set”.
Airbus also said it would be a proving ground for future innovations and would be open to its suppliers and universities to perform fatigue tests.
The centre will employ around 300 highly skilled engineers, although no new jobs will be created.
Mr Osborne, pictured above at the Airbus plant yesterday, said: “When it comes to aerospace design, Britain is the innovator of Europe and I want to see us going even further and becoming the global leader. That is why, with Airbus, we are committing £38m for a new cutting edge research facility right here in the heart of the South West.
“Not only will the new research centre be home to some of the most exciting innovations in aerospace, for years to come it will also protect hundreds of highly skilled jobs.”
Mr Osborne’s visit to the plant – Airbus’s main aircraft wing engineering site employing around 4,000 people – also came as the latest GDP figures revealed the UK economy grew by 0.5% during the final three months of 2015.
But last year’s annual growth of 2.2% was down on 2014’s figure of 2.9% and while output in the three months to December was 1.9% higher than a year earlier, it was down from 2.1% in the third quarter and the smallest increase since early 2013.
Commentators warned that a slowing global economy and stock market volatility could combine with weaker construction and production at home to push growth down further. 
Speaking at Airbus the Chancellor said: “These GDP numbers show the British economy continues to grow steadily and despite turbulence in the world economy Britain is pushing ahead.”
But the figures also reveal that manufacturing output was flat at the end of last year and construction decreased by 0.1% – meaning technically the building sector is now in recession.
However, the Chancell0r said the Government was committed to manufacturing and would continue to invest in projects that safeguarded jobs such as Airbus’s new wing test centre.
He claimed it would safeguard more than 900 research and development jobs in the region and up to a further 1,500 manufacturing jobs in the longer term.
The centre will be built on a vacant section of the sprawling Airbus site at Filton alongside the A38 dual carriageway. Airbus said Filton was chosen for the centre as it is home to around 2,000 engineers who specialise in wing design.
During his visit, Mr Osborne toured the plant’s 400M military transporter aircraft wing assembly area with Airbus COO Tom Williams and senior managers, pictured above right.
The Government investment in the Airbus wing test centre forms part of an overall £3.9bn aerospace technology funding programme, a joint industry and Government funding commitment which looks to build on the UK’s strengths and develop the products and manufacturing technologies that will best position the UK to sustain its global competitiveness.
The programme is delivered in partnership between the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, the Aerospace Technology Institute and Innovate UK.
