UK Export Finance has signed a first-of-its-kind £750 million financing framework with GE Aerospace that will steer airline engine repair work, and the supply chain spending that comes with it, through the manufacturer’s sites in Wales and Scotland.
The Memorandum of Understanding, signed on Monday at a record-breaking Farnborough International Airshow, makes UKEF-backed financing available to qualifying airline customers over five years for ‘engine shop visits’, the overhaul and maintenance work carried out on commercial aircraft engines.
For the regions involved, the numbers matter. GE Aerospace employs more than 2,000 people across its Welsh and Scottish sites, and the government says local businesses and supply chains will benefit tangibly from the deal. For the small firms that machine parts, run logistics and supply services into those facilities, a five-year pipeline of funded overhaul work is the kind of visibility aerospace supply chains rarely enjoy.
The framework is designed to fix a familiar problem: slow, ad-hoc financing. Airlines will get a streamlined process, clear upfront guidance on how much financing is available for overhauls at the UK sites, and multi-year financing approved in advance, letting them plan engine overhauls around operational needs rather than around their bankers.
Tim Reid, CEO at UK Export Finance, said: “This landmark framework shows how UKEF can work in partnership with industry leaders such as GE Aerospace, to unlock practical solutions for global customers. We are backing GE Aerospace’s world-class sites in Wales and Scotland, strengthening the UK’s position in the global aerospace supply chain, while also supporting substantial economic growth and job creation on a local level.”
Rahul Ghai, CFO at GE Aerospace, said: “This new programme provides airlines with a faster, more reliable way to manage investments in engine overhauls. We are pleased to partner with UKEF on a solution that supports our customers by keeping their fleet flying and strengthens our UK operations.”
The deal is a departure for UKEF, which has traditionally been associated with guaranteeing big-ticket export contracts. It also fits a broader shift at the agency, which has pledged a fivefold increase in the number of SMEs it supports, and it signals that maintenance and repair, not just manufacturing, now counts as export firepower worth backing.
There is fresh capital behind the sites themselves. In 2025, GE Aerospace announced a £14.2 million investment at its Wales facility over three years to improve infrastructure and maintain its position as a leading site for global commercial fleet support.
The politics are not hard to read either. Aerospace is a central plank of advanced manufacturing under the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, which aims to strengthen UK competitiveness in a sector built on engineering, R&D and complex supply chains while helping it transition towards clean energy. The Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan puts aerospace among the frontier industries expected to carry that ambition.
For UK business owners, the takeaway is less about engines than about direction. Government export finance is being wired directly into regional industrial sites, and the firms in their supply chains, rather than staying in Whitehall and the City. If the model works for jet engines in Wales and Scotland, expect other sectors to ask for the same treatment.
