Building on a UK-wide effort, manufacturing will begin in early April at the Welsh Government-owned facility at Broughton, which is managed by the University of Sheffield’s renowned Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC).

The VentilatorChallengeUK consortium includes AMRC Cymru anchor tenant Airbus, along with BAE systems, Rolls Royce, GKN Aerospace and Siemens UK among others, who have taken many of their best people from key projects and dedicated significant resources to serve the national need.

The group will harness their collective design, development and manufacturing capabilities to rapidly produce much needed ventilators for the NHS. They have received an order to produce at least 10,000 units from the UK Government.

Minister for North Wales Ken Skates said:

"I’d like to thank all the great businesses involved in the VentilatorChallengeUK consortium for their brilliance and innovation at this time of crisis. I’m so pleased that Airbus can use the state-of-the-art facilities at AMRC Cymru to help manufacture ventilators and that they are taking part in this important national project to save lives.  When we opened the AMRC Cymru last year we could not have foreseen it would play such a critical role at this time of national emergency."

Martin Bolton, Head of Assembly, Wing of Tomorrow, at Airbus said:

"Airbus has a crucial role to play in the fight against COVID-19. We are part of the VentilatorChallengeUK Consortium focused on accelerating the production of life-saving ventilators in support of the NHS. Our engineers and technology teams are working flat out to respond to the challenge and I'm proud to be a part of the team."

Katherine Bennett CBE, SVP Airbus in the UK, said:

"The fight against Covid-19 affects every one of us. Airbus is part of the VentilatorChallengeUK Consortium and is using its industrial skills to rapidly scale up the production of ventilators to support the NHS and help save lives. I would like to thank all of our employees involved for their fantastic commitment to help the UK at this time."

More details about the Ventilator Challenge are available here.

Share this page

Related stories

Cyber Wales answers NHS emergency call

The thriving cyber security sector in Wales is mobilising its members to offer their own IT skills to the NHS in Wales at this time of crisis.

Cyber Security
Computer servers

Awen Collective offers free cyber healthcheck to the healthcare sector

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, Caerphilly-based, award winning software firm Awen Collective is offering its Profile cyber software free throughout 2020 to all healthcare providers, including suppliers and manufacturers of ventilators, face masks and hand sanitisers.

Cyber Security
AMRC Cymru

AMRC

Advanced thinking

With partners that include Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Boeing, AMRC offers game-changing innovation to manufacturers large and small.

High Value Manufacturing
Discussion at a computer

General Dynamics

leading defence specialists

In 2017, General Dynamics UK made headlines by winning the £330 million contract to design and develop Evolve to Open, the UK Ministry of Defence’s next-generation communication system.

High Value Manufacturing

Subscribe to our newsletter

All across Wales, bright new ideas are being put into action: in offices, laboratories factories and festivals, on land, sea and in the air. Subscribe to our newsletter to hear about the latest business stories from Wales.