BUSINESS Secretary Vince Cable hailed ‘amazing’ Airbus and described the company as a shining example during a flying first visit to Broughton.

The deputy Lib Dem leader was given a tour of the wing-making plant’s West Factory and met apprentices, who he told the Chronicle were the future of Britain’s multi-billion pound aerospace industry.

“Good companies invest for the future, they invest in trainees, and this is happening at Airbus – it’s an exemplar,” said Mr Cable.

“It’s the first time I’ve been to this factory. It’s an amazing place.

“The trouble is that in the past this country has been dragged down by a lot of speculative activity. What really matters is that we’ve got industries that are thinking ahead.”

Mr Cable – the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills – visited Broughton after the recent announcement of a £2bn seven-year partnership between the Government and aerospace industry.

The ambitious Aerospace Industrial Strategy aims to keep Britain ahead of the field, and Airbus has committed about £350m of the £1bn private sector contribution.

“Aerospace is one of our most successful industries – we are number two in the world behind the United States and we want to keep it that way,” said Mr Cable.

“That’s why the Government made this commitment of £1bn – to invest very heavily in the future.

“A lot of advanced research and development will now ensure the future of the industry and build it up in the UK.

“In the past people have tended to talk down manufacturing in Britain, but we have a very good manufacturing sector, particularly advanced manufacturing like we have here.

“This particular part of North East Wales is a major centre.

“Flintshire has more manufacturing as a share of its economy than any other local authority district in Britain. It’s massive.”

Mr Cable praised Airbus’s apprenticeship schemes, saying the company had invested in them ‘in good times and bad’.

And he believes investing now will reap rewards in the future.

“The industry has got a great future and it makes a massive contribution to the country,” said the former Lib Dem Treasury spokesman.

“It’s growing, succeeding, and the challenges we now have are getting enough engineers, enough apprentices, in order to feed the industry.”

After his 45-minute factory walkabout, Mr Cable said: “I’ve just met a group of young people and I was particularly heartened to see quite a lot of young women, because one of the biggest problems in the past has been graduate and apprentice engineers have been overwhelmingly men.

“Unless we tap into young woman and get them interested there isn’t going to be enough supply.”

He added: “When we made this £1bn contribution we weren’t just thinking about this Parliament, this Government. We want to continue past the political cycle, think long term – and that’s the way an industry like this has got to function.

“We know that two or three decades ahead there’s enormous demand, and we’ve got to have the research and development, the people, the training in order and make sure that Britain is at the head of the field when that demand comes.”

Mark Stewart, general manager and human resources director at Airbus, said: “Everyone at Airbus was delighted to have the Secretary of State visit Broughton to show him first-hand the world class skills and facilities we have here.

“His visit was even more important coming just a week after the Government’s announcement on the investment of £2bn into aerospace research over the next seven years.

“That announcement was hugely important and was very good news for Airbus, the wider UK aerospace industry and the British economy.

“The decision to invest such a significant sum clearly demonstrates the Government’s understanding of the needs of the industry.

“It will help ensure sustained and targeted investment into research and development.

“Such forward thinking is vital and will help provide the cutting edge technological advances that are so vital to the future success of our industry – helping keep the UK at the forefront of global aerospace, promoting long-term growth and high value sustainable employment.”