Matra BAe Dynamics (MBD), the world’s second largest missiles
group, has appointed its first dedicated political adviser in the
UK.
The Anglo/French operation has hired George Mayhew, currently public
affairs manager at gas supply to credit card company Centrica, to be its
government affairs director. Mayhew will be based at the company’s UK
headquarters.
MBD, set up three years ago by British Aerospace and Aerospatiale Matra
of France, has a communications director, Marc Vellay, based in Paris,
who oversees a team of 23 on both sides of the channel.
Before Mayhew’s arrival, government affairs was included in deputy
communications director Howard Borrington’s brief. Borrington,who left
last year to join the government affairs department at BAe, was also
responsible for wider communications.
It was announced last month that MBD is being expanded through a deal
which would add the missiles businesses of Finmeccanica of Italy,
Marconi Electronics Systems and Aerospatiale. The deal will boost MBD’s
sales to pounds 1.5 billion, the second largest missiles group in the
world after Raytheon of the US. There are plans to expand MBD further,
with Dasa and Saab both candidates to join the group. MBD’s relationship
with the UK government is particularly crucial at the moment as it is
bidding against Raytheon for a pounds 1 billion RAF contract, to develop
a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile for the Eurofighter.
