Extra defence spending to double workforce of manufacturing firm, as ministers insist UK…

25 March 2025, 08:22

A manufacturing firm in Hampshire has told LBC it’s set to almost double its size, as a result of extra spending on defence.

The government has locked in its plan to increase the amount of GDP put into bolstering security, with both the Prime Minister and Chancellor insisting it will lead to economic growth.

Perfect Bore Manufacturing, in Andover, which drills metal parts for the armed forces, said it’s set to increase its 70-strong workforce thanks to the growing number of defence contracts it is receiving.

Showing LBC around the factory, not far from the British Army Headquarters, director Will Laughton said: “Andover is quite a small town, it’s an industrious town but I feel like a company like ours can be a leading face for this industry.

“And for people who go to school locally, I want them to feel privileged to come and work for us.

“This is a growing area; it has to be a growing area. We need a UK supply chain, and we need it fast.”

The machines at Perfect Bore can drill through solid steel with a diameter of between 30 and 250mm, in a process Mr Laughton explained is “rare for a company in the UK to be able to do.”

He said the products they make feed into land-based systems, aerospace defence and marine and shipbuilding: “We cross the whole division.”

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‘Good thing’

Aidan Hewlitt, who’s worked for the firm for almost 20 years, told LBC the fact the business is growing and providing more jobs for his hometown is ‘a good thing,’ which will help to boost the area.

“Andover has diminished slightly over the years in terms of investment,” he said, “but as far as the industrial estate is concerned, we’re seeing investment picking up.

“The way Europe and the world is, and the economy, it just makes sense.

“Engineering is an industry that maybe not everybody would consider going into, but this is a growth area and I think for the jobs market and the economy it is key.”

The Prime Minister announced in February that defence spending would increase in the UK from 2.3% to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, with around £6 billion being moved away from overseas aid to be spent in Britain instead.

The Ministry of Defence has also announced new targets to divert more of money into small and medium-sized businesses.

Speaking to LBC in Barrow-in-Furness last week, Sir Keir Starmer said: “I’m determined that what we need to do on our defence and security translates into jobs and security across our country.”

But Julian Jessop, an economist and fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, told LBC the growth from the initial increase in defence spending will be minimal.

He said: “You’ll probably get a small boost but we’re talking fractions of a percentage point in the headline numbers – I don’t think we’ll see it come through in the numbers.

“Six billion in the bigger scheme of the economy and public finances isn’t a lot of money.”

The government has also announced a desire to increase defence spending further in the next Parliament, to 3% of GDP.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson told LBC last month that the sector could become a key pillar to the UK’s industrial strategy.

He told Nick Ferrari: “However we choose to spend this money, this can lead to jobs and growth in the UK. 

“We’re very, very good at producing some of these technologies, whether it’s drones or munitions or whatever.

“And it will drive employment, it will drive long term growth in Lancashire, in Bristol, around the country. And we should think of it that way.”

But while small and medium-sized businesses are set to benefit from the increased defence spending, Will Laughton from Perfect Bore told LBC that bigger firms, including the UK steel industry also need to see a boost in support.

“Some of the jobs I’ve tendered for over the last three years have been dependent on where I can get the steel from,” he said, “and some of it I can only find in Eastern Europe – that’s no good, it’s not a constant supply.

“Someone won’t place a high-level long-term order on me if I can only get the material from the East because it’s a vulnerable route of supply.

“We’re asking now, can we bring these back into the UK? We’ve lost some of the steel industry, key engineering, and sovereign capabilities as a country.

“It is a critical path that we need to take and there is money we need to spend to put our infrastructure, our people and our safety first.”