Helicopter deal could create 600 new jobs

Hundreds more jobs could be created at a defence firm after a £1bn government contract to build military helicopters was secured.

Leonardo Helicopters has been awarded a contract to build 23 new medium helicopters (NMH) for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) at its site in Yeovil, Somerset.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the agreement paved the way for future export orders of the AW149 helicopter to be built in the UK, which could lead to the creation of 600 jobs.

Defence Secretary John Healey said the deal would make Yeovil "the proud home of Leonardo's global military helicopter production, building world-class helicopters for our forces and allies around the world for many years to come".

Leonardo's chief executive Roberto Cingolani had previously said the factory's future would be at risk if it was not awarded the government contract, leaving thousands of workers in limbo.

The agreement - confirmed by Treasury sources late on Friday night - secures the future of the Yeovil facility, sustaining 3,300 jobs, including 650 people working directly on NMH.

International orders for military helicopters from the company's facility in Yeovil could mean more than £15bn in exports over the next 10 years, the MoD said.

A spokesperson for the department added this had the potential to sustain 3,900 jobs in total - a 20% increase on the current number.

Nigel Colman, managing director of helicopters UK at Leonardo, said the company was "committed to providing the UK armed forces with a world-class medium lift helicopter, adding that it would "serve our military personnel for many years to come".

The Yeovil factory previously built planes used in World War One under the name Westland.

In the 1950s, it switched to making helicopters and more recently has specialised in Merlin and Wildcat helicopters.

The Italian firm has sites in Edinburgh, Luton, Basildon, Bristol, Newcastle, Southampton and Lincoln, employing thousands more workers in its supply chains.

The deal was finalised late on Friday night, the company had initially put in a bid to build 44 helicopters, but this was downsized after the government's budget and requirements were reduced in 2024.

A decision on the contract had been due in the autumn, but it was delayed by the government, which had until March 1 to award the contract.