Category Archives: Sealand

Ive made no secret of my disdain for most store-bought hummus. Compared to even mediocre homemade versions, the supermarket stuff is usually too pasty and thick, and preservatives sometimes contribute sharp, off flavors.

There are exceptions, of course: The hummus that Washington, D.C.-based chain Little Sesame started selling at Whole Foods Markets is stellar. Full disclosure: The companys chefs contributed a recipe for it to my most recent cookbook. But for the most part, nothing compares to the hummus you can make quickly at home, even with canned chickpeas.

Another problem with store-bought hummus is the temperature: As chef Michael Solomonov writes in his cookbook Zahav, referring to the hummusiyas in Israel, Great hummus is never refrigerated. The best places make a big batch each morning and close the doors when it runs out, usually by mid-afternoon.

Refrigeration mutes the balanced flavors of perfect hummus and, perhaps worse, turns it stiff. But the commercial stuff requires refrigeration (as do leftovers of your homemade version). So the simplest way to improve any cold hummus is by taking the chill off: microwave it and/or whisk in little hot water (or aquafaba if youve got it) to loosen it up and return some of that silkiness to its texture.

Even better, you can bake it, as in this recipe from the U.K.-based Leon chain of fast-food restaurants. As novel as the idea might seem, its not new; chef Anna Sortun of Oleana and other restaurants outside Boston has been serving incredible warm buttered hummus her take on the traditional Turkish approach for many years.

She serves it with a cured meat called basturma, but this version cooks it under a blanket of harissa-coated cherry tomatoes and whole chickpeas, with pine nuts sprinkled on top for even more texture.

If youve never had warm hummus, this is a revelation. The tomatoes burst and add their juices to the mix while the hummus puffs up and gets a little crispy around the edges. Its absolutely stellar if youre using great homemade hummus, and its pretty darn good with the store-bought stuff, too. Its the best recipe I can think of if youre interested in dip for dinner, and it also makes great leftovers if you warm them up first.

Adapted from Leon Happy One-Pot Vegetarian by Rebecca Seal and Chantal Symons (Conran, 2022).

3 cups store-bought or homemade hummus

1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added chickpeas or 1 cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 cup cherry tomatoes

3 tablespoons store-bought or homemade harissa

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

teaspoon fine salt

teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons (1 ounce) pine nuts, toasted (may substitute slivered almonds)

Flatbreads, for serving

Position a rack in the middle of an oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Spoon the hummus into a 2-quart baking dish. Mix in half the chickpeas and smooth out the top.

In a bowl, toss the remaining chickpeas with the cherry tomatoes, harissa, oil, salt and pepper until everything is evenly coated. Pour the mixture on top of the hummus.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes have burst and become soft and slightly burnished on top. Sprinkle over the pine nuts and serve warm with flatbreads.

Yield: 4 servings as a main, with pita or any other flatbread, or 8 as an appetizer dip

Make ahead: Homemade hummus can be prepared and refrigerated for up to 1 week before you add the other ingredients and bake it.

Storage notes: Refrigerate for up to 1 week. Rewarm before serving.

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The best thing to do with store-bought hummus: Bake it - The Spokesman Review

When young Bengali start out in life, they are not taught to look up to Dwarkanath Tagore or Mutty Lal Seal or Ramdulal Sarkar as their heroes. This elimination of wealth creators from the pantheon of Bengali heroes is a tragedy

Dwarakanath Tagore. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

This essay was born of a short lecture I gave to the newly formed Bengal Development Collective, made up mostly of students at my alma mater Oxford, and some also from Cambridge. In this, I argue that one of the primary elements that has gone missing from common Bengali consciousness is the urge towards wealth generation.

To observe a small but illustrative example, one only needs to check the number of startups that the state of West Bengal has compared to similar states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, or Karnataka. Karnataka has more than twice the number of startups compared to Bengal, Maharashtra, more than four-fold, and Gujarat, about two-thirds more. Tamil Nadu has around 40 per cent more registered startups than Bengal.

Now one could argue that perhaps many startups in Bengal are not registered but consider that per capita consumption of electricity in Bengal is lower than neighbouring states like Jharkhand and Odisha. This in a state which was once the industrial epicentre of India seems incongruous.

The economic worries of Bengal have many historic sources including a debt burden and it is also true that in the last couple of years the state has been showing swift growth in its GSDP (gross state domestic product). But there is a fundamental spirit of entrepreneurship especially new or young entrepreneurship which seems to need a rekindling in the state (as noticed in the number of startups).

Where is this spirit to be found? In fact, in Bengals own history. In this essay I wish to highlight three men from the late 18thto the early 20thcentury, from a period popularly known as the Bengal Renaissance.

These three are Dwarkanath Tagore, Mutty Lal Seal and Ramdulal Sarkar (also known as Ramdulal Dey).

The founder of the Jorashanko Tagores (or Thakurs in Bengali), and grandfather of the Nobel laureate poet and author Rabindranath, Dwarkanath was a pioneering entrepreneur.

He was one of the founders of the first Anglo-Indian mercantile company, Carr, Tagore, and Company, which had interests in jute, tea, and coal mines, and the first Indian to become a bank director in British-ruled India. Dwarkanath was a visionary in realizing that his inherited zamindari wealth was best deployed as investments in business and the real money was to be made in managing supply chains in commodities across the Empire including in trade with China. Dwarkanath was also the first Indian to buy a coal mine in Raniganj which eventually became the Bengal Coal Company.

Mutty Lal Seal was no less entrepreneurial as a trader, merchant, and owner of a major shipping fleet. Whether indigo or sugar, rice, silk, or salt petre, there is little that was traded from Calcuttas ports that did not have some interest from Mutty Lal Seal. One of the founders of the Assam Company, Seal pushed the Oriental Life Insurance Company to start servicing Indian clients. He used his ships to send flour and other food items to the new immigrants in Australia, and was among the founders of the Bank of India.

For his efforts, Mutty Lal Seal was described as the Rothschild of Calcutta.

The third character in our story is a shipping magnate called Ramdulal Sarkar (sometimes referred to as Ramdulal Dey). If Tagore and Seal were making money trading with the British, Sarkar looked at the New World. His primary business partners were in America.

From New York, Philadelphia and Boston, traders dealt with Ramdulal Sarkar to deal with commodities of all kinds and get a share of the Calcutta port action. Such was his influence that his American partners named one of their ships Ram Dolloll, a mispronunciation of his name, in Sarkars honour.

As a tribute to getting them in on the Hooghly action, Ramdulal Sarkars American trading partners presented to him a life-size portrait of George Washington by the artist William Winstanley (it is said to be the first such painting made on Washington).

Ironically, even when I gave this lecture talking about these incredible men, there was little recognition of these names among my highly educated and talented student audience. These men and their daring, enterprising exploits have almost been wiped out of the history of Bengal. When young Bengali start out in life, they are not taught to look up to Dwarkanath Tagore or Mutty Lal Seal or Ramdulal Sarkar as their heroes, as people who they ought to follow.

This elimination of wealth creators from the pantheon of Bengali heroes is a tragedy and I would like to argue is part of the problem why wealth creation and enterprise is not seen as a natural and integral part of Bengali culture today (as for instance the arts is).

If the culture of enterprise is to be reignited in Bengal, it must begin with adding to the list of Bengali heroes the names of these incredible Bengal Renaissance wealth creators who in fact bankrolled all the culture and arts that that fertile period gave us.

The writer is a multiple award-winning historian and author. The views expressed are personal.

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Tagore, Seal and Sarkar: We need to remember the business heroes of Bengal Renaissance - Firstpost

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Maersk has named Aruna Hussain (above) as its new MD of Sealand Europe & Med, taking over from Soren Castbak, who is to leave the company as it continues its strategic reorientation.

In a LinkedIn post, Mr Castbak explained: A different profile is needed in the job as CEO and it is in that connection that I have decided that it is time for me to leave AP Mller-Maersk.

Ms Hussain, who was most recently area MD for Maersk in Pakistan, started her career at the firm in 2000 in liner and trade roles in Pakistan and the UK before moving to Damco in Pakistan.

She left Maersk in 2010 and joined US-based furniture and home goods e-tailer Wayfair, where she was supply chain and operations director for Australia.In 2016 she returned to Pakistan and re-joined Damco first as country head and then as chief operations officer for Middle East.

Aruna has more than 20 years of experience in the logistics and supply chain industry and comes with a strong, proven track record, said Karsten Kildahl, APMM regional MD for Europe.I am convinced her experience will be a great asset to continue the transformation and growth journey in Sealand Europe.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Soren for having successfully grown Sealand Europe and Med, and having delivered constant and strong performance over the years, he added.

Ms Hussain said: The pan-European market is huge, with evolving supply chain patterns, shifts in sourcing and fast-paced technological advancements.Many of our customers are rethinking their logistics strategies to keep pace with these disruptions.

This requires us at Sealand to transform faster, connect even more closely with our customers and provide the right solutions that will enable them to simplify their supply chains, cut the complexity and grow their business, she added.

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Aruna Hussain to take over from Soren Castbak as MD of Sealand Europe & Med - theloadstar.com

VIGILS are to be held across Cheshire West and Chester this Friday in solidarity with the Ukrainian people against the invasion by Vladimir Putins Russia.

The vigils will be held in Chester Town Hall Square, Civic Square in Ellesmere Port, Northwich and Winsford.

All events will be held simultaneously at 5.30pm and are open to everyone.

Chester MP Chris Matheson, who will help host the Chester vigil, said: This is an event for people from Chester to come together, to show our support for democracy and our opposition to Putins brutal dictatorship.

It will also be a symbol of support for the brave Russian people who are defying Putin with demonstrations of their own.

This invasion is an unprovoked and unjustifiable violation of international law. We must stand in complete solidarity with the Ukrainian people and as the humanitarian crisis unfolds, we must do what we can to support them.

People are invited to gather at each vigil from 5.15pm.

For the Chester vigil, there will be a small number of speeches, including from Chris Matheson, Mike Johnson from Chesters City of Sanctuary group and members of the clergy from Chester Cathedral, who will lead a short period of reflection and prayer, for people of all religions and none, all starting at 5.30pm.

The Ellesmere Port vigil will take place with Town Mayor Cllr Lisa Denson in attendance.

Cllr Denson said: This vigil is an opportunity for people in our town to come together and show solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

From 5.30pm, there will be some short speeches from myself and [Ellesmere Port MP] Justin Madders, followed by a moments silence that we will share with other vigils in towns across our borough.

Attendees are reminded of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and are advised to take a lateral flow test before attending. The event is expected to finish around 6pm.

The vigils come after Chester Town Hall, the Eastgate Clock, Newgate and Storyhouse were illuminated last Friday as a show of solidarity for those affected by the Russian invasion.

Cheshire West and Chester Council leader Louise Gittins said: We stand in solidarity with those in our community with links to Ukraine and other sovereign nations in the region and offer our unreserved support during this disturbing time.

Im urging everyone in our borough to be kind and look out for each other those affected may be your neighbours, friends or work colleagues.

The SHARE charity is accepting humanitarian supply donations today and tomorrow (March 2-3) for Ukrainian refugees at the Poland-Ukraine border.

Items needed include baby and chilrens clothing, nappies, medical supplies, childrens toys such as teddies, blankets, school supplies, toiletries such as shampoo, toothbrushes and sanitary towels, emergency foil blankets and sleeping bags.

Donations can be dropped off at St Francis Church, Grosvenor Street, between 10am-2pm, at the SHARE shop on Northgate Street or at Dandys Top Soil, Yew Tree Farm, Sealand Road. Please label donations with UKRAINE.

For more information, visit https://shareaid.co.uk/blogs/news/ukraine-refugee-appeal

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Solidarity vigils to be held across Cheshire West and Chester for people of Ukraine - Chester and District Standard

Key takeaways

By Molly Wen

The healthcare investment field is filled with colorful terms like golden eyes, silver teeth and copper bones. Such metallic expressions speak to how lucrative and promising private medical practice can be in areas like ophthalmology, dentistry and orthopedics.

Quite a few Chinese ophthalmological companies have gone public, showing there really is gold in eyecare. By comparison, dentistry has yet to attract the same kind of nods from investors.Arrail Group Ltd., one of the countrys top three private oral health care providers, is eager to change that, even as a costly Valuation Adjustment Mechanism (VAM) agreement hangs over its balance sheet.

Following a failed listing attempt last year, the companyfiled for an IPOa second time in Hong Kong early this year and passed the listing hearings on Monday.

Arrail provides oral health services from 111 hospitals and clinics in 15 of Chinas largest cities. Its repertoire includes regular dental, orthodontic and dental implant services. Its namesake Arrail chain caters to deep-pocketed wealthy patients, while its Rytime brand is targeted at the middle-end of the market. During the six-months ended September 2021, the two brands contributed 430 million yuan ($68 million) and 410 million yuan in revenue to the company, respectively.

Dental diseases are common in China, even though few had the money to spend on proper dental care before the 21stcentury. Such care has become increasingly available and affordable in the last 20 years, but the penetration rate in China in 2020 was only 24%, much lower than the 70% in the U.S. That shows demand is not only growing, but there is also big potential not only for basic services like treatment of dental diseases, but also for elective services like teeth whitening.

According to the market data in Arrails prospectus, Chinas dental health market stands to grow at a steady clip in the next few years from 119.9 billion yuan in 2020 to roughly 300 billion yuan in 2025.

As one of Chinas few dental health companies with a national footprint, Arrail has become a private equity favorite. Big names like Goldman Sachs, Qiming Venture and Hillhouse Capital have all hopped on board since 2010. The companys latest funding round in April last year was led by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek, raising close to $200 million and valuing the company at $980 million just shy of the $1 billion mark for unicorn status.

Weak gross margins

Arrail may focus on high-spending customers, but it has yet to translate that to fat profits. In fact, the company vastly underperforms compared with its peers in gross margin terms. A report from Sealand Securities last year showed industry gross margins averaged around 40% to 50%. But Arrails were far behind that, coming in at just 15.2%, 10.1% and 24.1% in its fiscal years for 2019-2021, respectively.

The lackluster performance has everything to do with the companys staggeringly high personnel costs. Over the same three years, its spending on employee-related costs totaled 460 million yuan, 500 million yuan and 580 million yuan, representing an average compound growth rate of 12.3%. Such spending has consistently accounted for more than half of the companys total costs.

Curbing personnel costs doesnt come easy for private companies like Arrail due to the short supply of dentists in China. In 2020, the nation had just 175 dentists for every 1 million Chinese, compared to 810 in Europe and 608 in the U.S. Arrail also admitted in its prospectus that it would have to compete with public and private dental health providers by offering better packages to attract the best talent.

Its financial performance also looks less-than-dazzling. Its revenues rose from 1.08 billion yuan to 1.1 billion yuan and 1.52 billion yuan in its three most recent fiscal years from 2019 to 2021, respectively. It logged operating losses of 84.04 million yuan and 133 million yuan in 2019 and 2020, before moving into the black with an operating profit of 124 million yuan in its most recent fiscal year.

The company has attributed the losses to business expansion and the suspension of operations during the pandemic, when many medical facilities were closed and people especially avoided dental clinics over fear of infection. In 2019 and 2020, the company opened 16 and 10 dental clinics and hospitals, respectively. But it only opened two in 2021 in a bid to control costs.

While return on investment comes slowly to dental operators like Arrail, one thing working in its favor is the markets high degree of fragmentation. Chinas top five private dental operators only accounted for 8.5% of the market in 2020. Another factor in its favor is relatively low equipment costs. Unlike ophthalmological services that are highly dependent on expensive equipment, material costs for dental operations are low and clinics easily set up after securing necessary licenses.

Sealand Securities pointed out that most dental treatment services are generally considered safe and dont require assistance from other medical departments. It added that using a franchise model in the sector also doesnt bring much advantage in terms of capital needs, cost controls and standardized management.

Pressed by IPO deadline?

Arrail may also be looking to list now under pressure from its investors. According to the prospectus, the companys debt was greater than its assets at one point during the reporting period covered in the IPO document. It registered net liquid liabilities of up to 4.26 billion yuan in 2021, which the company ascribed to earlier VAM deals it entered into with investors.

Under those terms, if the company failed to go public before the end of 2020, investors had the right to request redemption of their shares. That meant liabilities for its fiscal year 2021 included 3.2 billion yuan of preferred shares. The redemption date for those shares was ultimately extended to Dec. 31, 2023. When Arrail is successfully listed, those preferred shares will be converted into ordinary shares.

The effects of that agreement caused Arrails loss attributable to shareholders to reach 600 million yuan in its fiscal year 2021. We can calculate its valuation using a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, referencing two listed dental groups with business close to Arrail. That pair,Angelalign(6699.HK) and Shanghai-listedTC Medical(600763.SH), both have P/S ratios of 24 times. Using that as a reference, Arrails valuation could reach as high as HK$44.8 billion, or about $5.74 billion, based on its revenue of 1.52 billion yuan in its most recent fiscal year.

However, TC Medical is a hot stock in Chinas A-share market, with its market value exceeded 100 billion yuan in the past. Its gross profit margin in the first half of 2021 was also as high as 46.75%, twice that of Arrail. If Arrail wants to replicate TC Medicals success in the capital market, it will need to operate more officially to pump some gleam into its valuation.

This article was submitted by an external contributor and may not represent the views and opinions of Benzinga.

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Dental Care Provider Arrail Hopes Investors Will Smile on Its Hong Kong IPO - Benzinga

You think you've seen so many strange and weird things in this world that nothing could surprise you? Think again, because the smallest country in the world isn't Vatican City, it's a small gun emplacement in the middle of the English channel ruled by its own prince!

As this incredible TV clip from the 1983 shows, you can reach Sealand by taking a choppy 20-minute helicopter ride out into the sea, seven miles off the coast of Essex.

Here, before his death in 2012, you would have met Patrick, "Paddy" Roy Bates - otherwise known as Prince Roy of Sealand. Roy literally invaded Sealand in the summer of 1967, throwing off pirate radio DJ's who had set up there with the intention of launching his own radio station.

But instead he transformed the former World War Two gun emplacement into his family home, declaring the independence of "Roughs Tower" - as it was nicknamed by the British government - and naming it the Principality of Sealand.

READ MORE: The River Thames island that's said to be plagued by an evil gypsy curse that makes everything go very wrong

As the fantastic Thames TV footage shows, Sealand looks like a "giant two pin plug" sticking out of the North Sea. It's a steel structure 60 feet above the sea, standing on giant hollow legs. It was set up by the Royal Navy in 1943 to defend shipping lanes against German mine-laying aircrafts. Some 200 men manned it throughout World War Two, shooting down over 200 planes in the process.

It's now the smallest country in the world, although not officially recognised by other nations. The British government it seems has never bothered to formally claim it, and if you travel there, you have to take your own passport. Since 1987 the British government extended its territory by 12 nautical miles so Sealand falls within British territory, but even so, it's still proudly independent.

The "country" even has its own stamps depicting naval heroes of the past such as Sir Francis Drake, and it has its own currency linked to the American dollar. As seen in previous reports, racks of guns still stand ready to defend the island and it's patrolled by six armed guards - and for good reason.

Roy's son, Crown Prince Michael, who still runs the principality, recalls the moment he and his fellow "Royalists" wrestled back Sealand after it was invaded by armed mercenaries in 1978.

Michael and his men had to get a helicopter out at dawn and slid down ropes onto the fortress before disarming the invaders. At the time Prince Roy and Joan had been invited to Austria to discuss the possible sale of the platform to one Alexander Achenbach.

He fell out with them and launched an invasion of the platform with boats and helicopters. They even took Prince Michael hostage, but he escaped and was able to capture Alexander Achenbach and the mercenaries using weapons stashed on the platform.

Alexander Achenbach, a German lawyer who had been able to get hold of a Sealand passport, was charged with treason against Sealand and was held prisoner. Germany was forced to intervene by sending a diplomat from its London embassy to Sealand to negotiate Achenbach's release. Roy Bates gave in after several weeks, but Achenbach went on to set up a Sealand Government in exile which would pose more problems for the Sealanders in later years.

Even before that in 1968, danger loomed. A British workman entered what Roy claimed to be his territorial waters to fix a navigational buoy near the platform.

Prince Michael fired warning shots at him from a loaded gun. Roy was summoned to court in England but the charges were dropped as Sealand was outside British jurisdiction.

It's probably a marmite kind of place to live, but as staff member Bob Simpson points out in the footage, you don't have to worry about bills like you do back on shore. For many years Crown princess Joan shared the fortress with her husband.

She recalls how when the couple first moved there there was no electricity and gas and conditions were pretty primitive but in later years they became very self sufficient. The kitchen has pot plants and china plates while the rooms are decorated with wallpaper, rugs and classic books, including Thomas Hardy's "Far From the Madding Crowd.

Although Sealand is not recognised so can't take part officially in international sports, that hasn't stopped it claiming to support various international sports teams. or athletes competing in its name.

These include a football team which played its first match in 2004 against the Aland Islands team. In 2007, Michael Martelle represented the Principality of Sealand in the World Cup of Kung Fu, held in Quebec City and on May 22, 2013, the mountaineer Kenton Cool also placed a Sealand flag at the summit of Mount Everest

Things turned dark though in the 1990s when a Russian crime ring began using Sealand passports to launder drug money. Prince Roy was forced to renounce all Sealand passports that had been created over the past 22 years.

The ringleaders of the operation were based in Madrid but had ties to various groups in Germany, including the rebel Sealand Government in exile established by Alexander Achenbach. They were even reported to have sold 4,000 fake Sealandic passports to Hong Kong citizens for an estimated $1,000 each

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But why did Roy decided it was a good idea to stake his life on Sealand? Well he says he did it because "I'm not introspective, I do the unusual and I enjoy doing the unusual. These sort of things attract me like a magnet and I just have to do them."

Roy sadly died on October 9 2012, aged 91 after battling Alzheimer's. Joan also died in an Essex nursing home at the age of 86 on March 10 2016.

But Prince Michael still proudly carries the flag, and the mini state seems to go from strength to strength having registered zero Covid cases during the pandemic. Michael now has three children, James, Liam and Charlotte who are all in one way or another involved in the future of the seafaring state.

Have you visited Sealand? Tell us about your experiences by emailing martin.elvery@reachplc.com

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The smallest 'country' in the world that's a half hour flight from London and ruled by its own prince - My London

Snuneymuxw First Nation opened its first cannabis retail outlet this week and still has plans to add more stores and a production and distribution network.

Coast Salish Canna on MacMillan Road opened its doors with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, Feb. 25. The store opening is the beginning of the First Nations newest economic development venture.

Today is a very proud day for Snuneymuxw and our partners to unveil and bring this forward, said Snuneymuxw Chief Mike Wyse.

The First Nation partnered with Terry Brown and Jason Guild of Encompass Capital three years ago to get the new business up and running.

This has been a long time coming for us and an excellent and rewarding partnership weve entered into, Guild said.

The First Nation is also opening a store at Sealand Market on Stewart Avenue and will build a grow operation on its reserve lands in Cedar to supply up to eight retail outlets on the Island.

Its a game-changer for the nation, Guild said. It puts them in the right position to be able to supply and put a micro grow here and literally supply your own stores.

The B.C. Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch, Brown said, currently has few Indigenous growers and operating companies in the province.

There are some that are Indigenous-associated, but to become a true Indigenous grower on the Island is very special, Brown said.

Snuneymuxw First Nations cannabis retail and supply agreement with the provincial government under Section 119 of the Cannabis Control Licensing Act is the second of its kind in B.C. The agreement is seen as another way for First Nations to provide employment for people in their communities and another enterprise in ongoing efforts to achieve economic self-sufficiency, according to a press release from the province last year.

For our community to be involved in this business, its a big step for us and were very excited. Wyse said. Weve come into this looking at other opportunities, as well as this.

READ ALSO: Snuneymuxw to open cannabis retail store in the new year

photos@nanaimobulletin.com

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Snuneymuxw First Nation opens its first cannabis retail store in Nanaimo - Nanaimo Bulletin

Peter J. Summers, who in the 1970s managed the development of the first phases of Deeside Industrial Park has died at the age of 92.

Mr Summers was the eldest son of Sir Richard Summers and the grandson of Harry Summers, who with his brothers, brought the family firm of John Summers and Sons to Shotton on Deeside in the late 1890s, to produce galvanised steel sheets. That business, now owned by Tata Steel, is still going strong after 125 years.

He joined John Summers and Sons in 1954 having graduated in languages at Cambridge and joined the company board in 1960 with responsibility for staff training and communications.

Following nationalisation of the steel industry in 1967, he held several senior personnel positions in the new British Steel Corporation still based at Shotton.

Read more Met Office names Storm Franklin as North Wales braces for winds of up to 75mph

In 1973, BSC revealed wide-ranging rationalisation plans which included the closure of iron and steelmaking and other operations at Shotton with the loss of up to 8,000 jobs. Two years later, Peter joined a new organisation, BS (Industry) Limited, set up to attract new industries to steelmaking areas and create new jobs for redundant steelworkers.

Peter was to prove highly successful in his role as Industry Co-ordinator in the north-west. Within a year of his appointment, work had started on a new 376 acre industrial park on the site of the former Sealand aerodrome close to the Flintshire-Cheshire border and once owned by the Summers family.

It is now one of the largest industrial estates in the UK with over 400 companies employing 9,000 people.

In 1978, Iceland Frozen Foods became the first company to re-locate to the new park. By the following year 17 advance factories with job prospects for over a thousand people had been let.

In 1982 Peter became managing director of Deeside Enterprise Trust, a private company set up to continue the work of BS (Industry) in the area, with support from the Welsh Development Agency and Flintshire County Council.

In September of that year he was awarded the MBE in recognition of his services to job creation in the region. By the time of his retirement in May 1989 4,400 people were employed in 87 new factories on the park.

His retirement ended a family association with Deeside stretching back to 1896 but Peter maintained contact with old colleagues by helping to organise an annual reunion for retired Shotton Works managers and staff personnel. It ended last year after 42 years because of the Covid pandemic and dwindling support.

Peter, who died at his home at Wettenhall near Winsford, Cheshire, was a man of many interests.

He was an accomplished public speaker, pianist and skier, and a keen gardener with a great passion for azaleas. He attended St. Peters Church, Little Budworth for over thirty years and since moving to Wettenhall had joined the congregation at St. Davids Church.

He is survived by his wife, Gillian, four children, Julie, Stephanie, Jeremy and Tim, six grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Julie is an author, broadcaster and historian best known for the book Jambusters which inspired the TV series Home Fires.

The funeral is a private cremation at Vale Royal Crematorium followed by a service of thanksgiving at St. Marys Church, Acton, Nantwich, at noon on Thursday, March 3. The family have requested no flowers but donations can be made to the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre (BIRD) through the web site of funeral directors, Jacqueline Wilson Independent Funeral Services.

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Peter J. Summers, one of the main architects behind Deeside Industrial Park, dies aged 92 - North Wales Live

1. Chairmans Foreword

In 2020 DECA repaired, calibrated, tested and manufactured over 70,000 individual items. These components and systems are mounted on an ever widening range of Defence platforms, including not only our aircraft, but now also our submarines, ships, tanks and vehicles. None of these platforms wouldbe able to operate and serve the mission of defending our country without the work that DECA and our superb workforce carry out day after day, even in a year when normal operations have been so under pressure due to the COVID pandemic.

Our work adds value in two important ways. First, with volume we successfully provide greater value to our customers through growth of DECA workload reducing the cost of output through increased efficiency of delivery over the life of this Plan.

Over the five-year plan period we are proposing to deliver a 36% increase in volume at a cost that will reduce by 14% per unit. Second, as a consequence of DECAs capacity to deliver on the promise of Repair not Replace technologies for Defence equipment, the Agency has demonstrated cost

avoidance and savings in excess of 135m over and above reduced costs in the first six years of operation.Overall, the 70,000 items passing through DECAs hands represents only a small proportion of the totality of the Defence equipment currently in service and opportunities for MOD to expand DECAs value adding capabilities across Defence are at the heart of our aspirations to grow the Agency over the life of the Plan.

Not only do DECAs high skill staff deliver enormous value, but they play an indispensable role in keeping our Country safe. Thank you to all our staff for the incredibly hard work over the past year and the contribution made towards building a strong future for DECA and its staff and families.

This Corporate Plan constitutes a statement of ambition to continue on that journey, contributing to our nations prosperity and security for years to come.

The global effect of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 12 months, on all areas of society, has meant that we have all had to adapt our way of life. This is no different to the way that DECA has had to adapt as a business. I am proud of the way that every area of the Agency has reacted with purpose to ensure we have maintained our critical Defence outputs and additionally provided support to MODs efforts in support of Civilian Authorities.

As we plan for 2021 and beyond, many of the lessons learnt throughout this challenging period will be harnessed to help develop a more agile and efficient business. Through accelerated digital transformation, we now have greater ability to deliver a blended workplace approach. This will offer far greater flexibility for our colleagues, and we will aim to capitalise on this to implement plans for a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Agile is the new norm, and we must continually adapt to ensure we develop more flexible and greater value offerings for our customers, stakeholders and employees.

In addition, we have maintained our drive to develop new business opportunities beyond our traditional Air domain, expanding our repair-not-replace capabilities to a much wider customer base in line with recommendations from the UK Government Investments Tailored Review of DECA, which was approved by MOD in early 2021. Our aim will be to continue to expand the value we offer to an ever greater number of Defence customers, in support of key MOD and UK Prosperity programmes, and to our closest Global allies and partners.

I am delighted with the strong relationships we have developed with our MOD customers and partners including Dstl, the Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) and, in particular, with our lead customer, Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), supporting continued development of strategic opportunities and wider Government agendas. Industry relationships continue to expand, and our work with Sealand Support Services Ltd (SSSL) to launch our F-35 European Hub is reaching maturity. Work also continues in support of Welsh Government, with MOD and Dstl, alongside major UK Defence Original Equipment Manufacturers, as we look to support development and growth of an innovation hub based at MOD Sealand. These relationships provide new and tangible opportunities for DECA to provide significant contribution to skills sustainment and generation, regional and national prosperity, and a long- term future for DECA and MOD across all areas of the UK.

COVID-19 had a significant impact on our operations during 2020 and 2021, and we expect there will be ongoing impacts as our customers continue to deal with and recover from the associated disruption. This, combined with the resultant National economic impacts, will mean that 2021 and beyond will be ever more challenging. As ever, I am confident that our skilled and dedicated workforces continued drive for transformation, coupled with the unique value we offer at the heart of MOD and beyond, will position us well for recovery and growth. Our Board, Executive Management Board and I look forward to delivering this Plan, increasing the value we provide to UK Defence, as well as national and regional prosperity, and generating further successes and expansion of our services across Defence.

We are an MOD owned Executive Agency with a highly professional team of civil servants that provide benchmark services as the principal in-house UK government organisation dedicated to maintenance, repair, overhaul, upgrade (MRO&U), procurement and managed services provision across Defence electronics, components and general equipment support.

Our services, procured by MOD and private sector customers, generate an annual turnover of 29m with a forecast ~10% increase to 32m in the next five years. These increases build on DECAs growing strategic importance to MOD and a focus on supporting delivery of Defence Task 12 (DT12) . These increases also see DECAs support provision grow across Land, Maritime and Strategic Enabler domains from 5% in 2015 to 20% of the order book, despite the negative impacts of COVID-19, and set to increase to 31% over the life of this Plan.

DECA growth is driven by providing added value to Defence through innovative repair not replace technologies, technical obsolescence mitigation, increased platform/equipment availability and generation of >135m in savings and potential through-life cost avoidance across all domains since formation in 2015.

Planned growth and transformation will drive DECAs ambition to improve Diversity and Inclusion as well as ensuring an increasingly engaged and motivated workforce, in line with Defence Task 11 (DT11) . Our increase in output will be delivered with only a small expansion of our highly skilled workforce over the same period with the remainder driven through delivery of the stretching targets for transformational efficiencies in this plan.

Successful development of collaborative and strategic partnerships has enabled DECA to progress a number of opportunities that significantly contribute to National Security Objective 3 Prosperity and Defence Task 19 . These include supporting the development of proposals for the Welsh Governments Advanced Technology Research Centre and innovation hub at MOD Sealand with MOD and Dstl, as well as government to government initiatives, such as Project Atlantic Eagle, with our US partners.

DECA continues to maintain and grow its ability to provide global surge capability and deploy in support of operations. DECA operate from co-located facilities alongside our Front Line customers and also through wider MOD deployments in the UK and overseas in support of military operations and critical support to Military Aid.

We are a trusted MOD and industry partner assuring effective delivery of electronic and components capability in support of Defence.

We aim to be a highly professional team driving efficiency and safely delivering benchmark support services to our customers.

We value our people by:

We promote teamwork by:

We care for our customers and stakeholders by committing to:

We deliver best value for Defence and continuously improve by:

Whilst DECAs Strategy has been developed against the backcloth of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, which heralded earlier procurement of new platforms and prolonged retention of key in-service platforms, work continues with MOD Centre, Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) and Defence Support to ensure continuing alignment with the Integrated Review.

Early indications are that outcomes of the Integrated and Spending Reviews will increase MODs focus and reliance on cost-effective, through-life support and generation of savings, as well as development of sustainable support solutions, with the potential for opportunities for DECA to increase.The Defence Equipment Plan 2018 identified three key themes: that our Armed Forces need to be ready and able to match the pace at which our adversaries now move; that our Armed Forces need to be a fighting force fit for the challenges of the 21st century; and we need to transform the business of Defence to deliver a robust, credible, modern and affordable force.

The key area of focus for DECA from Defence planning is to support integrated military capability that is strategically prepared, responsive, operationally effective and maximises the benefits of international co-operation. DECA will also support delivery of skills-based, agile, diverse, inclusive, motivated and efficient Whole Force and Defence Task 19 that will also include HMG policy priorities including the Union, Places for Growth, Prosperity and NetZero50.

MOD has an enduring requirement for DECA to deliver strategic support capability from MOD Sealand for decades to come. Underutilised MOD real-estate, and a unique position in a devolved nation, have formed the basis of a number of potential opportunities for increased site utilisation at MOD Sealand in support of UK government Levelling Up and Places for Growth initiatives. Further development of these will aim at driving UK Prosperity, efficiency and increased value through increased Defence/Civil Service activities centred at MOD Sealand.

Our strategic retention within MOD continues to align with delivery of these themes and provides MOD with assured, onshore, access to strategic capabilities for current and future MOD equipment. Crown ownership also maintains access to certain MOD Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and technical expertise, which when coupled with DECAs IPR neutrality across industrial partners, allows the generation of innovative partnerships and support solutions for MOD

This access and neutrality helps to maintain and assure required airworthiness and compliance standards that allow further opportunities to be developed working within and adhering to US International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Our unique trading model further enables development of commercial arrangements with Government and Industry at all levels in support of secure and sensitive equipment and helps overcome internationally and commercially sensitive issues.

DECAs first Tailored Review, which took place during 2019/2020, found that, there continue to be clear and strong public policy reasons why DECA should remain in public ownership within the MOD. UK Government Investments, who carried out the review, recommended that DECA continues to operate as an Executive Agency of MOD and works with MOD to ensure it is utilised strategically by MOD in line with its strategic retention rationale.

The global MRO&U assignments for F-35 in 2016 and 2018 provided a 30+ year requirement for DECA capability delivered from MOD Sealand. In addition, working with MOD and Industry customers, DECA has identified and agreed an increasing number of wider MOD opportunities where resource has been focussed to better align Agency capacity/ capability with opportunities to grow the business across Land, Maritime and Strategic Enabler domains.

FY21/22 presented unanticipated and unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although implementation of best practice safety measures and introduction of an accelerated blended workplace provided some mitigation against these impacts. The Agency also saw a significant shortfall in anticipated workload, with recovery of this shortfall even more challenging, due to COVID-19 restrictions, which prevented DECA from carrying out mitigating business winning activity.

Notable successes included end to end Managed Services for new customers, generation of an initial operating capability in Additive Manufacture with Defence Support, commencement of feasibility studies and repairs for the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and expansion of Typhoon calibration.

This Plan reflects a continuation of this challenging environment for years 1-2 of the Plan with realistic levels of growth. Business development opportunities are forecast to recover to pre-COVID levels in years 3-5 of the Plan, driving accelerated growth as re-profiled opportunities from earlier years and newly identified programmes are delivered across all MOD domains.

Aligned to the Defence Policy Landscape and MODs strategic retention rationale for DECA, the Agency continues to focus on supporting the UKs armed forces by maintaining and developing the skills required to ensure effective and efficient delivery to our customers. This is delivered through development of sustainable, cost-effective, through-life support solutions that increase equipment availability and generate significant value through savings, commercial leverage and potential cost avoidance for Defence.

MOD agreed four strategic priorities with DECA on formation that have been annually reviewed and agreed through the corporate planning process and will be reviewed and agreed with MOD during FY21/22 to align with work, led by DECAs Sponsor, to develop MODs strategy and future vision for DECA. These priorities provide the vision of What good looks like for Defence and shape DECAs continuing transformation journey to become:

Through continued development of the following key strategic deliverables and enabling activities, DECA will deliver MODs strategic priorities and objectives for the Agency and continue its journey towards becoming MODs provider of choice for electronic, component, general engineering and managed services across UK Defence and continuing its pedigree as a regional, national and global provider of market leading capability.

DECA continues to provide MOD with in-house, onshore access to electronic and component MRO&U capabilities for in-service and future Defence platforms including the principal supplier of these services to the F-35 global repair hub based at MOD Sealand. In addition, DECA is the MODs delivery hub for Tri-service calibration (Sealand), Test Solutions (Sealand), General Engineering (Stafford) and F-35 Ground Support Equipment (Stafford).

We are continuing to transform from a business retained to provide MRO&U services for largely legacy MOD equipment, to a business that continues to focus on assured delivery of these priorities whilst also developing support solutions across a widening Defence customer base. This is helping overcome Defence budgetary pressures and maintaining our critical role in providing support to help ensure a fighting force fit for the challenges of the 21st century.

Sealand Support Services Ltd. (SSSL) is a Joint Venture between MOD, BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman, focussed on maintenance and repair activity supporting the growing fleet of F-35 aircraft on Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and at RAF Marham.

Capabilities at our Stafford site comprise a wide range of general mechanical engineering activities, including a multifunctional engineering workshop, cryogenic repaircapability, specific to content container and textile workshop and pressure vessel inspection and repair facility. In FY20/21, we provided remote and on-site repair and calibration services for a wide range of ground support equipment over a number of platforms, and this activity is set to increase over the life of this Plan.

Staffords diverse capabilities attracted significant interest from the Defence community during FY20/21, and in particular, our Specific To Content Container design, support, manufacture and cryogenics capabilities that generated significant cost avoidance for MOD. Planned business development activity during FY21/22 will look to further exploit DECA Stafford capabilities and align these with the emerging needs of a widening customer base.

We are the UK MOD hub and in-house subject matter experts for automatic test equipment, with our development of Test Programs Sets (TPS) for a wide range of equipment across multiple systems delivering significant savings in support costs over the life of a range of UK capabilities. We will continue to expand our obsolescence support role in this area for in-service and legacy capabilities across all Domains, and will continue to look to ensure longevity in existing systems whilst working to secure new test technologies in support of MODs strategic requirements. Our open architecture approach to system support and test will continue to provide MOD with assured capability and interoperability of test systems, regardless of OEM.

DECA has continued to secure and demonstrate best value for MOD and the British taxpayer that has enabled significant expansion of DECA services across Defence and resulted in substantial cost avoidance, savings and increases in availability for key equipment. Since formation in 2015, DECA has expanded its share of support to Land, Maritime and Strategic Enabler domains from 5% to circa 20% in FY20/21 and will continue to target further business development activities in these domains to helpensure delivery of strategic value to a wider range of MOD customers.

Successful completion of tasks for the Army customer during FY20/21 has seen further growth in opportunities to expand across the Land domain. We will continue to explore opportunities to diversify our traditional equipment repair capability portfolio and exploit our proven operational engineering and logistics experience gained in support of UK Land operations overseas.

Expansion over the Maritime (Ships and Submarines) domain has increased with targeted growth seeing this continue to rise over the life of the Plan. Initial component feasibility studies across almost every major platform in the Royal Navys surface and submarine fleets is driving this growth through demonstrable through-life cost avoidance savings and increased platform availability via a rapidly developing technical obsolescence service.

Re-engagement with the Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) Board and Her Majestys Naval Base Clyde will build on already identified opportunities for expansion of DECA support across the Subsurface fleets and explore the potential to develop and deliver a longer-term, more strategic arrangement between DECA/SDA that scales and scopes the following priority taskings.

This diverse portfolio of DECA work covers both sensitive and non-sensitive repairs supporting military equipment across Air, Maritime and Land, as well as in direct support of OEMs and other Arms Length Bodies. In FY20/21, we continuedto develop further opportunities to provide pivotal support to critical in-service communications systems and we will look to expand further into this area through the life of this Plan.

DECA has developed significant strategic partnerships and relationships with key UK and allied parties across government, industry and devolved administrations. These have generated new capabilities and shared best practice to develop significant opportunities to support Global Britain and Prosperity at a regional, national and global level.

The ATRC is seen as a post-COVID 19, cross-border, fiscal recovery project. MOD, Dstl and DECA continue to support the development of this project that, if successful, will deliver a state of the art facility collocated with DECA at MOD Sealand by the end of 2024. This will cement North Wales and the North West as a regional, national and global centre of excellence for innovation and will be a key contributor to UK Prosperity. The ATRC has secured significant support within UK Defence OEMs and has the following objectives: support of research, innovation and commercialisation around specific technologies; development of a pipeline of high calibre skills; collaboration between global businesses, small and medium sized enterprises and Further/Higher Education partners; job sustainment and creation as well as inward investment across both the civil and Defence supply chain. DECA will continue to support Welsh Government and MOD in the development of this landmark facility and look to exploit further opportunities for DECA to participate and generate additional capability and workload in support of next generation technologies.

We will further deepen our Strategic Partnering Principles Agreement with Dstl and identify additional opportunities to create mutual benefit for both parties. We will continue to undertake work across a wider range of Dstl products and enable employees from both organisations to take part in exchanges, apprenticeship opportunities, education, continuing professional development, best practice benchmarking visits and inter-Agency networking. DECA aims to help Dstl by providing ongoing support for existing technologies, freeing up Dstl capacity to focus on their key strategic capabilities, i.e. generation of new technologies.

DECA has commenced activity to support development of greater utility of the Agencys capabilities across Defence. Work, supported by Defence Support Champions, to increase knowledge of DECA capability and value to support solutions commenced in 2020 and will be built upon during 2021.

In addition, highly successful work with Defence Supports Concepts and Force Development Team has initiated an initial operating capability in Additive Manufacture within DECA. This work capitalises on DECAs already well- regarded technical and engineering capabilities in Technical Obsolescence Management and Reverse Engineering. Following this proof of concept work at MOD Sealand it is hoped to incorporate this technology widely across DECA and deliver benefits back to MOD . Further work and funding is planned to develop this successful methodology across other emerging technologies including Cold Metal Spray techniques, Power Grid Arrays and Robotics during 2021 and 2022.

Following MOD direction and work with DE&S Customers, DECA continued to grow its range of services beyond the traditional MRO&U capability by expanding its role as a Managed Services provider during FY20/21. Working with our customers, DECA recognised and developed the specialist skills necessary to deliver the intelligent provider role for DE&S, resulting in the provision of an end to end sustainment and through-life asset management service for a range of Defence capabilities deployed globally. This enhancement to DECA capability has successfully secured long-term agreements with DE&S customers for DECA services.

DECA will expand these services and value adding activities by growing these services to a much wider portfolio of MOD and industry customers across all domains.

DECA continues to support UK Strategic Commands Support to Operations (S2O) scheme administered by Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ), which provides a dedicated end-to- end process for the generation, deployment and recovery of civilian Defence personnel in support of global joint operations. DECA maintain the ability to provide global surge capability and deploy in support of operations, most recently exercised during the COVID-19 pandemic, deploying DECA personnel to the Falkland Islands to service and maintain essential cryogenic capabilities in support of an MOD MACA tasking.

DECAs regional and deployed capabilities, including Medical and Dental, Cryptographic Repair, Mobile Calibration and Field Service Support form an increasingly important feature of DECAs capability and offering.

Through demonstrated efficiency savings, the MOD Customer has requested further expansion of DECAs regional Medical and Dental capabilities and the establishment of a dedicated capability in the East of England. DECA will deliver this new capability during FY21/22 and continue to develop further opportunities for both Medical and Dental and Cryptographic services, which have continued to be delivered throughout the COVID-19 situation.

To ensure delivery of its key strategic priorities and forecast growth over the life of the Plan, the DECA Transformation Programme (DTP) was launched in 2019 to focus on development of an efficient organisation fit for the challenges of the future.

COVID-19 has demonstrated that DECA needs to be increasingly agile and efficient and reinvigoration of the DTP is already underway. Delivery of the programmes three key pillars of People, Technologies and Process has continued, with the completion of our Pay & Grading review and a sustained leadership and management development project. Implementation of our Smarter Working environment continues, and an increased number of self-directed process ownership and improvement initiatives are increasing value within business procedures.

The DTP is informed through the MOD Deputy Head of Profession Network to ensure alignment with wider MOD transformation programmes including across Business and Behavioural Change, Digital & Information Technology, Front-line Capability Support and People. We will continue to mature the Programme within this dynamic environment and wider MOD engagement with the Defence Project Delivery Hub and roll out of a new Project Delivery Functional Strategy within DECA. This has enabled best practice methodology to be embedded within our Programme & Project Management Office in pursuit of a DECA Project Delivery Centre of Excellence.

DECA is working with the Defence Energy & Emissions Group, who are leading on cutting carbon emissions in line with Net Zero 2050 targets. A number of recommendations have been made as part of this group, including making all MOD buildings and vehicle fleets zero carbon. DECA has produced a draft De-carbonisation Plan, which includes opportunities including air source heat pumps, LED lighting, insulation and electric vehicle charging points. In addition, DECA were successful in obtaining funding from Salix,a government funded body set up to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, for heating and double glazing projects across MOD Sealand, which will see a significant reduction in both energy costs and carbon emissions.

Aligning with the Modernising Defence Programme, Government Estates Strategy and ongoing agreed activities with MODs Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) through the Defence Estates Optimisation Programme, options will be developed to invest in our infrastructure to ensure best utilisation of the estate as a cornerstone of transformation. Major investments generated through increased DECA efficiencies are included within this Plan in utilities and infrastructure, including the development of an improved DECA Learning & Development area.

We are continuing to look at innovative ways to upgrade existing facilities at MOD Sealand through the potential creation of an innovation hub with Dstl, and through the furtherance of the ATRC project with MOD and Welsh Government. During 2020, DECA entered into an agreement with MODs Security Services Group (SSG) to provide accommodation at Sealand. These works will allow for the relocation of employees from SSG at Warrington to Sealand where the provision of MODnet networks will be made available to offer further potential MOD consolidation opportunities for higher classification activities.

DECA operates as performance management hierarchy. Under this performance hierarchy, delivery of DECAs agreed Business Strategy and DECAs progress towards its agreed Strategic Priorities is assured through regular monitoring and reporting against four Strategic Objectives:

Maintaining and assuring a business model and systems that do not restrict DECAs ability to deliver MODs Strategic Priorities and developing a DECA Business Strategy that maintains focus on the Agencys key strategic deliverables.

Continuing to provide assured, timely, cost effective, onshore support for in-service and future equipment across Defence, working with our principal customer, DE&S, to agree forward volumes and resource the Agency accordingly.

Continuing to work with MOD and industry to create sovereign capacity and capability within the UK and export supply chains and developing DECAs role in providing subject matter expertise, managed services, repair not replace technologies and obsolescence mitigation.

Implementing the DECA Transformation Program to ensure alignment with wider-MOD transformation and continuously improve DECA value; delivery, competitiveness whilst developing an ever more agile, diverse, inclusive and engaged workforce.

Each of these Strategic Objectives has an underlying set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are developed annually with MOD, approved by the DECA Executive Management Board and endorsed by the DECA Board and Customer through the Corporate Plan.

Strategic Objective 1 - Control of the Business

KPI 1 - To maintain control of the business through efficient and effective delivery of the Plan

Strategic Objective 2 - Customer Delivery

KPI 2 - To deliver the agreed Customer Programmes and outputs whilst maintaining appropriate quality standards

Strategic Objective 3 - Sustainment and Business Growth

KPI 3 - To deliver the agreed levels of targeted business growth in the Plan

Strategic Objective 4 - Transformation and Efficiency

KPI 4 - To deliver the DECA Transformation Programme to ensure a more agile, efficient and effective business that is fit for the future

Progress towards achieving these KPIs is regularly reviewed by the DECA Executive Management Board, DECA Board and at MODs Performance and Risk Review. The KPIs and Performance Measures are cascaded into the business through a series of Critical Success Factors.

DECA continues to sustain and develop capabilities in line with strategic direction from the MOD and Customer to assure delivery of the Agencys strategic priorities, objectives and agreed Plan. Risks to delivery of this Plan are managed and monitored by the XMB, DECA Board and MODs Performance and Risk Review. The main strategic risks and issues being monitored and mitigated to ensure there areno negative impacts on delivery of the Plan arising from an inability to:

DECA complies with all relevant Cabinet Office and HM Treasury guidance including Managing Public Money and any instructions and guidance to government departments and agencies. DECA also follows all relevant Cabinet Office instructions and guidance. In compliance with the guidance in Managing Public Money, DECA charges internal MOD customers the full cost of each service it provides. Any fees charged for services provided to external, private sector customers will be set at full cost. Further details on DECAs finance and control framework can be found at http://www.gov.uk/deca

As an MOD Agency, DECAs activities are funded entirely by the payment for delivery of services provided to its MOD customers, and contracts between DECA and private sector customers. DECAs income arises from fees for its services with all sums received paid into, and all expenditure incurred paid out of the Agency. DECA delivers outputs to a wide-range of customers across MOD and industry

Almost three-quarters of DECAs operating costs relate to our people. Since the formation of DECA, we have been successful in managing the short-term fluctuation in mix and volume of workload by increasing the flexibility of our employees. DECA is looking to drive increased capability, future productivity and efficiency through its Enterprise Transformation Programme and through business growth taking advantage of DECAs volume driven business model

In order to meet future capacity requirements to deliver the planned business growth and to address any natural workforce attrition, DECA will expand its apprenticeship schemes, consider the use of agency workers where appropriate and up-skill our employees to achieve a 20% increase in efficiency over the life of the plan.

This Plan reflects forecast levels of investment in support of business as usual and also capability enhancement. We will continue to position ourselves for new platforms, which will require investment particularly in the areas of people and skills, infrastructure, test equipment and new capabilities and technologies.

The following table depicts the capital and revenue investments currently envisaged for the five years of the Plan. Each individual item will be subject to an appropriate business case and supporting investment appraisal, and will be approved in accordance within our delegation framework, ensuring we obtain best value for the taxpayer from all investment expenditure. Project evaluations will be carried out on all major investments.

We will continue to have responsibility and custodianship of buildings at MOD Sealand, contributing significantly to our efficiency, safety and environmental protection performance. Therefore, a level of investment is planned for ongoing maintenance. Additional MOD investment will be required to maintain buildings and infrastructure for an enduring capability for at least the next thirty years. Potential options to mitigate lack of available disaggregated funding for critical investments are being investigated with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.

We are currently undertaking a review of our key business systems and reporting solutions that remain critical to the delivery of the efficiencies and savings included in this Plan.

Our Human Resources and People Strategy assures appropriate investment in our people to develop and sustain a highly skilled, professional and motivated workforce and to address an ageing business demographic.

Our current capability is underpinned by specialised technical equipment and the Agency will continue to operate a rolling programme of production equipment renewal and upgrade. Through our Transformation programme, we will also seek opportunities to develop spend to save business cases where investment in technology, including automation, delivers improved safety, efficiency, sustainability and environmental protection benefits to Defence.

We will also invest in production equipment to increase capability in areas where MOD identified there is a strategic need for DECA to deliver support. This will include necessary investment in the development of more sustainable support solutions and expansion into other complimentary markets.

The DECA Board and Executive Management Board

Original post:

Corporate Plan of the Defence Electronics and Components Agency 2021 - 2026 - GOV.UK