A roundtable led by Digital Catapult and facilitated by techSPARK took place on 9th December, bringing together stakeholders from across the defence, aerospace, academic and tech sectors to explore how the Southwest can play a greater role in building resilient, digitally enabled supply chains.
The discussion focused on real barriers, emerging opportunities, and how better coordination across the ecosystem could unlock more value – particularly for SMEs and innovators looking to engage with MOD programmes.
Strong regional assets, but better coordination is needed
The Southwest has all the right ingredients: a deep industrial base, strong research institutions, and growing tech capability. However, participants noted that the region’s strengths aren’t always working in concert. Navigating between universities, primes, government initiatives and funding frameworks remains a challenge – especially for early-stage companies trying to scale.
The sense in the room was clear: there’s plenty happening, but it could be easier to connect the dots.
SMEs face slow and complex engagement routes
The route into defence remains difficult for small businesses. Long lead times, unclear procurement frameworks, and a lack of direct access to decision-makers continue to slow progress. While interest in working with SMEs is often stated at the top level, translating that into practical opportunities remains inconsistent.
There was strong support for more targeted SME showcases, ideally tied to defined MOD challenge areas and real procurement pathways—not just general awareness-raising.
The region produces excellent talent – but struggles to keep it
Southwest universities are turning out skilled graduates in robotics, AI, engineering and computer science. However, many students don’t view defence as a natural or appealing career path – even when their research is directly relevant to sector needs.
This disconnect isn’t purely ideological; it’s often about language and framing. Students are keen to apply their skills to urgent global challenges – climate, mobility, resilience – and don’t always see defence as part of that picture.
More careful articulation of challenge areas, and wider engagement with the university ecosystem, could help address this.
UNCODE.initRow(document.getElementById(“row-unique-0”));
UNCODE.initRow(document.getElementById(“row-unique-1”));
Regional clusters can play a practical, enabling role
Organisations like Digital Catapult and the wider cluster network are well-placed to help companies engage more effectively with defence opportunities – by translating requirements, simplifying processes, and offering infrastructure that reduces repetition and admin overhead.
There was also interest in shared learning across sectors and regions, particularly where new digital tools or supply chain technologies could be applied cross-sector.
Actions to take forward
Several clear opportunities for improvement emerged:
- Publishing clearer MOD problem statements that are easier for SMEs to interpret
- Supporting more visible and direct engagement between SMEs and budget holders
- Making onboarding requirements easier to navigate
- Providing more structured support around export, visas, and talent retention
- Creating shared frameworks to reduce duplication and entry barriers
While none of these ideas are new, there was strong alignment on the need to move from discussion to delivery – and for the Southwest to lead by example in showing how defence innovation can be made more accessible, more agile, and more inclusive of the companies and people already doing the work.
Looking ahead
The roundtable didn’t set out to solve everything in a single session – but it did surface where effort is needed, and where the Southwest is well placed to lead.
There’s a clear appetite across the region to make engagement with defence more accessible, to retain and attract the right talent, and to build a stronger pipeline from research through to commercial delivery. But this will rely on continued coordination – not just between individual organisations, but across sectors and regions.
Digital Catapult will continue to lead on this work in collaboration with local partners, with a particular focus on supply chain innovation, SME support, and challenge-led engagement. techSPARK will continue to support these conversations, helping to bring together the right mix of people, perspectives and practical tools to make progress visible.
Further roundtables and showcases are planned for 2026, with a focus on surfacing real opportunities and reducing friction for companies looking to engage.
As ever, the value will lie in what happens between the events – not just in the room.
Thank you to everyone that attended the roundtable
Anastasia Cucino (ADS Group)
Annalisa Russell-Smith FRAeS (FlyBy Technology)
Andrew Turner (National Composites Centre)
Benjamin King Sutton Woods (University of Bristol)
James Neely (National Composites Centre)
Jim Sibson (Babcock International Group)
Josh Simpkins (Future Talent Group)
Nick Crew (Airbus)
Owen Candy (Modini Ltd)
Rachel Eggington (Q5D)
Rebecca Huffe (Space West)
Russell Frith (Wiltshire County Council)
Sabine Hauert (Bristol Robotics Lab)
Thomas Parry (SDO Associates)
UNCODE.initRow(document.getElementById(“row-unique-2”));
The post Insights From The Southwest Defence Supply Chain Roundtable appeared first on techSPARK.