The UK has opened a 8,500m² National Composites Centre (NCC) in Bristol at a cost of £25m.

The facility was developed by the South West RDA, Bristol University and industrial partners, with funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (£12m), the South West Regional Development Agency (RDA) (£4m), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (£9m).

GKN Aerospace, AgustaWestland, Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN, Umeco and Vestas have extended £5.5m of funding over the next three years.

The NCC features workshop space, open-plan offices, meeting rooms and teaching facilities.

The centre will host a 15-member composites research team that will work on research programmes such as the CleanSky initiative, developing new composite technologies to extend the performance and lower the emissions of future aircraft.

GKN Aerospace and GKN Land Systems CEO and president Marcus Bryson said: "This new centre will be a key resource for us at GKN Aerospace as we and our team of suppliers work to maximise the UK’s involvement in the growing global aerospace market over the next 30 to 40 years."