Please note that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to our first speaker, Mr. Martin Cooper, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.
Thanks very much, and welcome to the BAE Systems ESG Update, with a focus on our positive contribution to our communities here in the UK and our approach to skills and training. Some administration before we start. The event should last around an hour. The presentation will flow in a listen-only mode. There'll be the opportunity, as just mentioned, to ask questions at the end, or feel free to email myself during the presentation, and we shall look to address your questions, or I will respond after the event. This is an ESG update, and I should remind everyone we're in a closed period prior to our results on the twenty-first of February, so any questions should be limited to what is presented today. The slides and presentation will be on the investor website after the event. With that, I'm delighted to hand over to our Chair, Cressida.
Cressida, over to you.
Thanks, Martin, and welcome, everybody. Thanks for coming to this update. I'm Cressida Hogg, the Chair of BAE. I took over as Chair in May last year after the AGM from Sir Roger Carr, and I joined the board as Chair designate in November 2022. So let me start by introducing our other presenters today. Jane Griffiths is a non-executive on our board and chairs our ESG Committee. Karin Hoeing is responsible for ESG delivery, and Nigel Davies is a key part of our early careers team and runs our Aerospace Academy for Skills and Knowledge. You'll hear from them all later.
We're also joined today by Martin, who opened the meeting, our Director of Investor Relations, Brad Greve, our CFO, and Tom Arseneault, who's head of our US business, and all of them, too, will be happy to answer questions in the Q&A session. Charles Woodburn, our CEO, is sorry not to be here, but he has an unmissable governmental meeting this afternoon. You will, though, have a chance to see Charles on our roadshow after our results announcement in a few weeks. 2023 has been a busy year for our business, with significant strategic progress for BAE, with AUKUS, GCAP, supporting our customers in their continued response to the invasion in Ukraine, and announcing our largest ever M&A transaction focused on the space domain. We look forward to presenting all this in more detail at our results on the twenty-first of February.
As this is my first update to you as the new chair, I thought it'd be helpful to start the session with some initial impressions formed as I've gone around the business, meeting many colleagues at all stages in their careers and building my understanding of what we do. It's a privilege to chair such an important and exciting business, and one that, in my view, often understates its achievements and its unique qualities. Under Charles's strong leadership, BAE has evolved into a forward-looking, technology-led defense company with a unique international customer base. Our revenues are underpinned by our exciting long-term programs. One of my strongest impressions has been the incredible sense of purpose that our people have across the company. They really understand the importance of what we do and the key role that we play in national defense.
We protect those who protect us" is a phrase I've heard so often, and it clearly defines what we do, and this purpose is integral to our culture and to our values. There's a real commitment to our customers, whether it's delivering a record turnaround time for servicing the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier between tours at the end of 2023, or working on the front line with our customers to ensure our Typhoons are battle-ready. We're committed to delivering in very difficult environments. Over the longer term, we also see ourselves as key partners in delivering technological solutions that are needed by our customers as modern warfare evolves. Last week, I was in Normandy with the Normandy Memorial Trust. We're helping them build an education center at the British Memorial, due to open in time for the D-Day 80th anniversary celebrations in June.
This will make sure that visitors of all ages can really understand the bravery, ingenuity, and sacrifice of the Normandy campaign. It reminded me that much of the equipment used in 1944 was designed and built by our heritage companies, and I'm really proud that our legacy includes firms and people that built Spitfires, Hurricanes, the first Typhoons, helped develop radar technology and networks, developed the Horsa Glider, built many of the landing craft, and designed the Duplex Drive Swimming Tank. The visit really reminded me that a successful military campaign needs to be able to draw on superior technology to win. Technology is still at the heart of much of what we do. Of course, we build on our legacy manufacturing products for air, sea, and land, but also develop cutting-edge technologies fit for the challenges of a digital world, where multi-platform communication is key.
BAE has a critical role in defense and cybersecurity in the UK, the US, Australia, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and in other countries where we operate through government relationships, such as in Ukraine. The case for defense for me is very clear. Investment in defense is required to help to grow geopolitical stability and prosperity, and it's also needed to protect countries and citizens from threats and to protect free trade. Recent events in the Red Sea have been a reminder how fragile global trade can be. As a company, we need to continue to develop world-class future technologies with defense applications and ensure we have a workforce with the right skills mix to deliver.
Our activities contribute significant economic value and underpin the prosperity of the communities in which we operate, and we need to make sure that in all that we do, we understand and mitigate the impact that we have on our planet. Our ESG priorities dovetail with our overall mission. We're always aware of the impact our activities have on the environment, backed up by the data we collect, and we're focused on our own journey to net zero. As the UK's largest manufacturer, and with operations in over 30 states in the US, we have a major social and economic impact in both countries, and I'm particularly proud that we're one of the largest private sector recruiters of apprentices and graduates in the UK, investing in the next generation of engineers and leaders in our business.
Of course, all our activities need to take place within a clear governance framework led by the board. I believe the change of chair allows the business to have a proper review of the governance structures and processes already in place. Our existing governance frameworks are robust, with clear standards of behavior that we have laid out in our Code of Conduct, and a strong operational framework for managing the businesses from board level down. We're already preparing for likely changes in external UK governance standards too. For example, updating and refreshing our approach to Risk Management and assurance. Our committee responsibilities are clear and well managed by our individual committee chairs, and we are in the process of refreshing the committee terms of reference and standing agendas.
Now, while some of these changes sound procedural, they are, for me, at the heart of robust governance that needs to evolve continuously. The diversity of background, skills, and experience of our board is also key to strong board performance, and we review this each year. Like all boards, we continue to evolve. We very sadly said goodbye to Chris Grigg, our senior independent director, at the end of 2023, after over nine years on the board, and I'm very pleased that Nicole Piasecki has agreed to take on the role, in addition to chairing the Remuneration Committee. As nearly half our turnover and a significant proportion of our shareholder base is now in the US, it seems timely to have a US citizen as our SID.
I'm also delighted that Angus Cockburn's joined the board at the end of 2023, and some of you may know him from his long tenure as CFO at first Aggreko and then Serco. Some of you, in initial conversations with me, have touched on the board's role in planning for management succession. Be assured that we see this as a fundamental responsibility. We currently have a great leadership team in Charles and Brad and Tom, and I'm really enjoying working with them. But we need to remain focused on keeping them supported and motivated. And all companies must have resilience and be able to maintain momentum through management change. I'm working with the board to refresh our succession planning to best identify potential and talent, both internally and externally.
I'd now like to hand over to Dr. Jane Griffiths, who runs our ESG committee, to cover its work.
Thank you very much, Cressida. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm delighted to be here again. I'd like to brief you on the key activities of the ESG committee and what we've overseen in the last 12 months. But let me first recap on the format and structure of the committee. The ESG committee comprises a hugely experienced group of non-execs: Nick Anderson, Crystal Ashby, Nicole Piasecki, Mark Sedwill, and most recently, Stephen Pearce, head of our A udit Committee, who has joined our committee to ensure alignment with the reporting requirements and ESG metrics that we'll be making public. They all bring a wealth of diversity, of background, sector experience, as well as gender and ethnicity.
Each committee meeting is also attended by Cressida, Charles, Brad, and a number of other senior executives, and I think that truly reflects the continued importance, commitment, and engagement of the board and the company to ESG. The primary role of the committee is to provide oversight and assurance of the company's ESG agenda and progress. To support this, we hear from both senior management and the company's subject matter experts. We regularly review data and also use the opportunity of site visits and virtual meetings to engage directly with employees so that we can hear their views, and this is particularly important, as it gives us a chance to feed back employee perspectives into the boardroom discussions. I'd like to thank, particularly the BAE management team, for their willingness to involve us and for actively encouraging this engagement.
Another role of the committee is to approve ESG-related objectives and targets, which form part of the executive incentives. In 2023, both safety and diversity were set as underpins or qualifiers to the overall award of the non-financial element of the executive bonus. In other words, good performance in both of these areas is expected rather than rewarded. Other elements specifically set within the non-financial element of the executive objectives are related to implementation and delivery of the company's Net Zero plan, driving an inclusive culture, and maintaining, ideally improving, our rating from key stakeholders, such as those in the audience today. Key areas of focus of the committee during 2023 are shown on the slide, but let me provide some insights to our discussions.
With respect to ESG governance, we received regulatory updates from the group legal counsel on forthcoming requirements, and also reviewed processes and procedures which govern the group's commitment to ensuring high standards of anti-corruption. The committee invited experts from KPMG to provide an independent view of ESG materiality for BAE Systems. We were pleased to see that their opinion concurred with both the company's ESG agenda and the current remit of the company. Environmental factors, including those related to climate change, are one of the group's principal risks. The group's decarbonization ambitions of Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 for Scope 1 and 2 are embedded within the strategic framework, and climate transition matters are firmly considered as part of the integrated business plan. As such, climate transition and climate resilience were continued areas of focus during our meetings this year.
We received updates on the impact of climate change on the group's activities, transition risks and opportunities, and also considered areas such as material scarcity and supplier vulnerability. The potential impact of the group's activities on the climate, nature, and biodiversity are also considered by the company. We were pleased to hear of the various decarbonization activities underway, in particular, the progress to secure future renewable energy through our corporate power purchase agreements, and the energy efficiency initiatives are being factored into our growth and development plans. As approved by shareholders at the 2023 AGM, the long-term incentive plan features an ESG objective.
In 2023, the ESG metrics had a 10% weighting and was based on the reduction of group greenhouse gas emissions, Scope one and two, over the three-year LTIP period, which is aligned to a science-based pathway of 1.5 degrees centigrade. While I don't want to get ahead of the annual report, I am pleased to report that good progress has been made. Moving on to the S or social part of ESG, I wanted to give you an update there as well. The committee received reports on the various workplace environment initiatives, which had been undertaken across the group, to create and maintain an environment where employees want to join and remain in the company. Safety, well-being, and the approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to the company's employer of choice. Excuse me.
We were pleased that safety is being considered and addressed as a principal risk. Employee and product safety have long since been key areas of focus for the Group, the Board, and this Committee. The inclusion of safety as a principal risk ensures this remains a key area of focus and provides consistency between the objectives and the risks that those objectives seek to mitigate. While it was good to note an overall improvement in the safety performance with a reduction of the recordable injury rate, we noted that there had been an increase in the number of major injuries. We're aware that Charles has this firmly on his agenda, and there will continue to be a strong focus from the executive on this in 2024.
As part of every meeting, we review an ESG dashboard, which includes key performance indicators for areas such as safety, diversity, and inclusion. At our meeting in February, we had a deep dive into the group's progress in respect of its DEI ambitions. In particular, we were pleased to note the progress delivered through recruitment and growth in employee numbers. Karin will provide much more information on the numerous actions and initiatives to ensure an inclusive workplace environment. But I'd like now to talk about a further responsibility the committee discharged during 2023 on behalf of the board. In accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, the Board maintains an effective mechanism to engage with the workforce. The committee undertakes some employee engagement on behalf of the board. This approach is regularly reviewed to ensure its effectiveness, taking into account contemporary employee engagement practices.
As a board, we discuss employee engagement matters and feedback, and important elements of conversations and observations from our interactions. Site visits provide opportunities to hear the employee voice, as well as the considerations and concerns of the local communities in which we operate. Together with data and reports from senior management on site visits, meetings, and opportunities for discussion with employees, all of these give us good perspective into the matters important to our employees and their communities. A summary of key employee engagement undertaken by the board and its committees can be seen on the slide. I have to say that these interactions are hugely enjoyable for committee members. Always of particular interest are the employee stories of their careers and their opportunities for career advancement through the apprentice and graduate schemes, and their clear engagement in the company and its mission.
Additionally, conversations on how the culture of safety is being embedded and what else we can do to further improve as a company are invariably insightful. So summing up on ESG, we have a strong committee, which I'm privileged to chair. BAE maintains robust standards of governance and is making good progress across the E and the S. We are pleased that Charles set challenging targets to accelerate to Net Zero and diversity, and the company will continue to ensure progress on these areas. ESG is a broad agenda, but we believe the company is seriously focused on the key material issues for the defense sector. But of course, in the countries we operate in, and especially here in the UK, our impact goes far beyond defense.
We play a key role in society by helping to grow the UK's national and regional economy and boost prosperity, skills, and technological know-how. As Chair of the ESG, I get to see many aspects of this firsthand, but many of us feel this is still something underappreciated by many when thinking of BAE Systems. So to help demonstrate this impact, we once again commissioned Oxford Economics to conduct an independent report examining how our employment across 50 sites, our export and investment in our supply chain in 2022, contributed to the UK's prosperity. The report also describes our work supporting communities, the armed forces, and programs to reach Net Zero and help boost Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The full report can be downloaded from the link on the slide or the company website.
But some highlights for me in 2022 were, and I make no apology for restating them here, the company supporting 132,000 full-time jobs, including nearly 40,000 at BAE Systems. BAE contributing GBP 11.1 billion to the UK GDP, spending GBP 4.1 billion with over 6,000 suppliers. The company also invested GBP 180 million in education, skills, and training, and you'll hear much more on that later. Finally, investing more than GBP 1.4 billion in research and development, allowing for research partnerships with universities and highly innovative companies, empowering the UK to exploit its existing capabilities in many mission-critical areas. And as you heard from Cressida, the technological advances we've made in the past and continue to make really does matter.
This was, and continues to be, critical in defending the nation and our allies. In summary, the economic, employment, social, and technological contributions BAE Systems makes, not just here in the UK, but in our major employment hubs around the world, are significant, and it's something which the board and the whole company are extremely proud of. I'll now hand over to Karin, who will, together with her team, who is, together with her team, responsible for all the real work that's done in this area, and she's going to provide an operational update on ESG and how things have progressed in 2023.
Perfect. Thank you, Jane, and good afternoon. About eighteen months ago, we presented our ESG strategy, and I'm pleased to say that we have made some great progress. I'm delighted to walk you through some of it today in more detail. ESG continues to be strongly aligned to our business priorities, and as you can see, it is also part of our strategic house. It is part of our strategy. More than 50% of the non-financial executive, executive objectives actually are on ESG, and it hasn't changed over the last few years and will continue this way for 2024. We also have Net Zero objectives in our long-term incentives. Furthermore, sustainability is embedded more and more in everything we do. Despite the growth, we've managed to keep our diversity and inclusion numbers up.
We managed to keep our safety statistics going into the right way, and we focused an incredible amount of time on skills, education, on retention, on attractiveness, and last but not least, on well-being, because with the growth at hand and the amount of hours people work, it is quite important that we are looking out for employees as well. Net Zero has been part of our short and long-term planning and investments in the organization, and I'm very pleased to see how every sector is really now embracing it, and is proud to say what they have done and what their plans are for the years to come.
So just to recap on what we presented last time, we have set out our strategy around beginning mid-2022, and at the time, we presented that we had very strong foundations, and you see them at the bottom of, of the chart here. We have very strong foundations. The reason we call them like that because these are priorities we focused on for a longer time. We have set ambitions on those; we have roadmaps. We focused on, on them for a much longer time. Some of them would be around safety, on robust ethics, on diversity and inclusion, and early careers, et cetera. And what we realized at the time, that there would be four themes, four directions we probably need to dial up, and we have dialed up them since 2022 tremendously.
One of them is around climate risks, which is around Net Zero, is around biodiversity, nature. The next one would be around innovation technology, meaning, how do we ensure when we now look at new designing products, how can we make sure that engineers are looking at sustainability and brief sustainability when creating new products, as well as what can we do to existing products we have to make sure we go on to greener technology, as well as the Net Zero Scope 3? We also looked at creating opportunities for people and communities, and we just mentioned the record number of intake of new people we have. So the more important it is to look at skills education, to look at inclusive workplaces, not just diversity, and also broader our social value we are looking at.
We can't do ESG sustainability alone, so our partners are very, very important. So we really focused a lot on partnering with suppliers, with our customers, with universities, with our trade unions, and specifically with our supply chain, because the resilience of our supply chain is key going forward. So the targets we have set haven't changed. Despite the growth, despite going more international, expanding, despite record recruits, our targets haven't changed. We're still focused on the environment side, just to mention a few of the ones on the list here now. On the environment side, a lot of focus is still on Net Zero, Scope I, II, Scope III, as we have set out our ambition.... On the social side, diversity and inclusion, again, the 30% women by 2030 in the UK.
If I look back two years ago, it seemed like a target we could hardly achieve, given that we have to recruit from a STEM background. But looking at it now, I'm really pleased to say that we are on track and that it's looking promising. Safety and well-being, we talked about it, it's important, and all of us are committed to make it our number one priority when it comes to our workplace safety. On the governance side, just to mention one of them, the robust ethics, compliance, and disclosure, and the constantly reinventing the training to make sure it stays up to date with the much younger workforce than we have, than we have now, than we used to have, it's quite key to what we do. Let me give you an update on the progress on some of these now.
Let me start with the environment. End of 2023, we actually exceeded our glide path towards Net Zero Scope 1 and 2, according to the SBTi targets. I'm pleased to say that we secured a CPPA contract, as Jane already mentioned earlier, that covers 40% of our UK requirements from 2026. Not only did we reduce energy consumption in 2023, but we also increased the use of other renewable energies. We will keep going along the same path for the next years to come. Innovation and enabling sustainability, and I mentioned it earlier, the engagement of the sectors is very different. Every single sector has at least one technology on sustainability, and they're progressing very well. To give you two examples, one would be a hybrid electric drive system that's demonstrated now on our Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
The other one would be the simulator training, which not only improves our safety drastically but also reduces drastically our emissions. On Scope III, I can say we're working closely with our suppliers, and we actually have implemented supplier principles, which will help us, and help us to help the supply chain as well to get to our Scope 3 emission target. Moving on to the social aspect, and we mentioned it a couple of times now, despite the increased workload, despite the number of recruits, we look at it, thousands of new people entered the workplace for us, and it's been a phenomenal effort to ensure that we keep our people safe. We have even seen an improvement in our safety statistics from a recordable injury rate point of view.
The increased leadership and the momentum we have created, I believe, with the leadership to show the case and to go around the different sites and to talk about safety wherever people went, was remarkable, and this is reflected in the safety statistics we're seeing now. Mental health awareness training has been deployed, and I'm also pleased to say that the different apps we have deployed is not only for the employees themselves, but also includes their family member, because after COVID, a lot of incidents we've seen on mental health is not just impacting the employees themselves.
Diversity and inclusion, again, despite the record intake of new people, might it be fresh out early careers or might it be executive recruiting on a higher level, we actually increased our representation overall from where we ended, end of 2022, which was 22.5%, to a large step up to 23.3%. So this is one of the largest increases in gender diversity we've seen in years, and this is despite all the intake we have. The largest focus for us now is on moving the pipeline forward, making sure we don't only have the highest population at the younger grades, but ensuring that we're moving the pipeline of gender going up as well, which is represented on the bottom right graph here, where you can see the percentage of women in senior leaders, which is going up as well.
How we help our minority groups is with something we call ERG, Employee Resource Group, employee minority groups. And I'm pleased to say, not only did we increase the number of groups we have on different topics, where we have more minority groups, we also increased geographically and expanded to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, expanded into Australia, and we have seen the largest increase of participants year on year, last year with a 27% increase. So there's a lot of appetite for people to be able to speak up, speak out, be in the minority group, understand how we increase the minority groups going forward, and this will be a substantial amount of work for the next years to come for us to grow. So as you heard from Jane, the Oxford Economics, we take our responsibility towards society and community very seriously.
So here on this slide, you see some statistics on community investment, on skills, education, and our support to the armed forces. So in 2022, we spent GBP 11.5 million to charities and nonprofit organizations, and it's a very similar number, again, in 2023. So look at skills and education, and I know Nigel will talk about in more detail later on the call. We invested GBP 180 million in skills and education in 2022. In 2023, it's even exceeded this number. At any point in time, we have more than 5,000 apprentices and graduates in the UK, record intake and flagship apprenticeship programs, as well as now the graduate programs, which are starting to flourish.
I'm very proud as well to say that from the initiative Movement to Work, we took another 100 people into our workplace, and I had the pleasure of going around different sites the other day to meet two of them in person and hearing their personal stories. I was quite moved to see how welcome they were in the organization and how well they flourish at this point in time, and how they've really settled in and enjoying it. We also launched the Global Digital Skills Academy, because we understand that digital skills will be skills we really need for the future. It's not just for certain people that join the organization, but it's meant for all across the different businesses. This academy is giving us an opportunity to cross-skill many of our employees going forward. Last but not least, is the armed forces.
We contributed GBP 2.9 million to the armed forces charities, and I'm also very pleased to see that from the experienced hire, we continue to recruit 25% of those in the US, and now 6% in the UK, which still seems a number that's very low, but if you do look at the graph, it's quite an increase to where we were in the past years, and this is certainly an area where we would like to continue growing faster than ever before. So now let's get to the topic of governance. So governance is something that remains strong across the entire organization all the time. Just updated our code of conduct, modernized it, refreshed it. It's been launched, it's been rolled out with very positive feedback.
We also continued our strong focus on reporting, and with that, we reduced the risk rating with Sustainalytics, for example. We also maintained our leader position with MSCI. I can only say wherever we go in the organization, we do come across the governance as being one of the strongest pieces of ESG as you come across it. So with that, on the last slide, just looking forward. We will keep driving the agenda forward as is. We're continuously working on our ambitions and our targets. We, we continue to align to business priorities as they change and where we see the need. On the environment side, again, our Net Zero ambitions are there. We will not change them. We keep going with what we have.
Climate resilience is something we take very seriously and have done a lot of analysis of data, requests on it to look at how can we become more resilient. The social part will probably remain one of the largest focus areas for the next years to come, 'cause as you heard, we will continue to grow, we will continuously looking for workforce retention, making sure we are attractive, remain attractive, looking at skills education, making sure we keep our people safe, making sure we're looking out for well-being and health of our people employed, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion. And last but not least, we know we have a duty to play in our communities as well, where we work, and it's always a pleasure to go around and see all the different communities and see all the charities where we're working with.
And governance, as mentioned, we continue the strong focus with the disclosure requirements, staying close to them, the ESG risk mitigation, as well as ensuring the reporting remains as strong as we, as we currently do. So to summarize, we are progressing well on our ESG agenda. As more and more, we are moving towards what used to be more an input, input seeking ESG agenda, much, much more towards impact, as we can see right now and as the Oxford Economics report showed as well. So with that, I'm going to hand over to Cressida.
Thank you, Karin. So as we expand to deliver our new programs like AUKUS and GCAP, it's critical that we invest for the future. We continue to develop new engineering, manufacturing, and training facilities. We're investing, as you've heard, in local communities where we have our major operations, and we're recruiting thousands more employees at all career stages to support the growth of our business. To bring some of this vision to life, we'd now like to show you a video on Barrow, where, of course, we build the UK's submarines, and the journey the community's been on and the role we can play in that.
Some people say that Barrow is the cul-de-sac of Britain. I don't think it is. There's a real sense of community. It's a great place to work and also to raise your family. We're close to the Lake District. It's right on our doorstep. I've lived here all my life, and I love it.
The shipyard itself is in the heart of Barrow, and that's how it feels. So having a prosperous shipyard with ample work allows the town to flourish. There's significant investment around the Barrow shipyard. New facilities are being prepared, new quays for the arrival of the Dreadnought program, nearly GBP 1 billion investment in the site.
I've lived in Barrow all my life. BAE Systems is the talk of the town. Hello, you okay? With my mum working there, she's always talked about it. That's why I've always wanted to work at BAE Systems.
It's nice to go to work with her. Morning! We can drive into work together. My son's also got an apprenticeship there. He's a pipe fabricator, and they're earning great money. Riley, come on. Let's go! My husband used to work there. I've got a friend whose dad worked in the shipyard. His dad worked in the shipyard. His dad worked in the shipyard.
BAE Systems is such a big part of the community. You always see people you know. They protect the workforce, they protect the whole community.
Barrow, like a lot of places, had generations of decline. I'm really glad to say that's turning around with some of the work that's coming into the area now. But that's left a long legacy that we've got to deal with.
I've been fortunate enough to have a job, but a lot of people haven't. There was about 50 people for one job. We just don't see that anymore because the opportunities that are out there, especially within BAE Systems, are so vast.
Back towards the end of the nineteenth century, Barrow was known as the Chicago of the North. That was because of all the industry here, which included the iron ore, the steel, and more importantly, the shipbuilding. BAE Systems have played a real crucial part in that to continue the legacy.... We design, build, and commission nuclear submarines for the Royal Navy. We turn that into output drawings and then into a physical product that is in service with the Royal Navy. Submarines is a truly national endeavor. Our supply chain reaches right the way across the country, with the employment of perhaps 100,000 individuals. We work with significant partner companies, Rolls-Royce and Babcock. What we do within the shipyard has a massive reach into what we call the Cumbrian community.
We invested about GBP 80 million into that supply chain, and that was factored across about 100 companies. We do send to sea a large number of sailors on these vessels, and the quality of the work here in Barrow is critical to their survival in that operational workspace.
We were fortunate enough to secure GBP 25 million through the government's Town Deal program, and those projects will really transform the town. They comprise of things as far-reaching as getting a university campus into Barrow. It's something people have been calling out for, for years.
When all these projects are all lined up, the town will look completely different.
The Learning Quarter will really revive the area. It's great to see the regeneration in action to attract more investment in Barrow. The health and prosperity of the local area is so important for BAE Systems long term. I see how proactive we are in working with the community to overcome local challenges.
It's crucially important that we bring people in with the relevant skill set to train and mentor the up-and-coming workforce and the young people in the town.
I think out of the nearly 30,000 people of working age, we employ about a third of those. Each year, we offer an opportunity for around 500 apprentices or graduates from across not only the local communities, but universities throughout the country.
I think the way that BAE Systems is supporting it, I do think Barrow will be a vibrant, brilliant place to be. I think it'll be even better for families and for young people in the future.
I think Barrow's best days are ahead of it. We've got the Town Deal coming in. We've got GBP 60 million Levelling Up Fund investment, and we've got a huge pipeline of work in the shipyard to look forward to.
What we do is of vital importance in helping keep our nation safe, protect the UK's sovereignty, and helping maintain its place in the world. Our people are proud of the role they play in supporting the Royal Navy.
I feel really positive about the future and what's to come. I think BAE wouldn't be what it is without Barrow, and vice versa, really. I feel such pride working for a company that's had so much involvement in the Town Deal. I love living in Barrow. I do. There isn't anywhere else that I'd want to live.
Hope you all enjoyed that. I'd now like to introduce Nigel, who runs our Air Skills Centre, to talk about our skills and development program. Nigel, over to you.
Thank you very much, and good afternoon, and hello to everybody. Every time I see that video, it really is just fantastic and so powerful. Yeah, so I'm Nigel Davies. I head up the Academy for Skills and Knowledge at Farnborough, and lead the early careers and skills for the air business. I'm delighted. It gives me great pleasure today to talk about our early careers education, especially around our academies. As a starting position, I'd like to describe and give some insights about our apprentices, graduates, education outreach, but also knowledge transfer and expertise, as these are important aspects and pieces of the wider early careers and skills jigsaw. Our vision is to build and sustain our future UK workforce through the development and delivery of outstanding early careers and skills programs.
It is clear that early careers underpins a pipeline of highly skilled employees that design, deliver, maintain, and protect complex and sensitive programs that keep Britain at the forefront of technological innovation. We clearly value and don't underestimate our next generation workforce, our talent pipeline, that we attract across maritime, naval ships, air, land, digital intelligence, submarines, electronic systems, and across these businesses. Early careers plays a pivotal role in the areas of this work, including our platforms, our systems, and our products, people skills, capabilities, that collaborative mindset, our cultural insights, and also that best practice. Our commitment to early careers is clearly demonstrated by the significant investment in skills, education, and training. In 2022, BAE Systems invested over GBP 180 million in skills and education and training, which is almost double what we invested in 2020.
I'd like just to talk a little bit about our apprenticeships, and we are responsible for training and the welfare of over 5,200 apprentices and graduates at this time. I say at this time because these numbers are growing, and we're hiring this year 1,400 apprentices and 1,300 graduates in the UK, which is our best ever intake year. A 40% increase, increase actually on 2022, with forecasted growth through to 2026, year on year, which is significant, and that matches the demand and the requirements of the business.... We have over 60 different apprenticeship programs, of which 60% are either engineering and manufacturing. Two-thirds are intermediate or advanced apprenticeships, so levels 2 and 3, and one-third degree and master's apprenticeships at levels 4 through to 7.
Roles include engineering technician, digital technology solutions professional, safety, health, environmental technician, aerospace engineer, project manager, aerospace software development engineer. It's interesting, 60% of our 2022 apprentice recruitment was in the North of England, and 27% of that intake came from disadvantaged communities. If I just briefly talk about graduates, generally speaking, our graduates is an accelerated program over 22 months. It's a really key aspect for us in developing through professional and personal development program. We work with universities across the UK on different requirements for STEM students, for example, what may be curriculum engagement and development, promoting careers and opportunities, but also working in partnership with significant universities, if it's by the Russell Group or specialized, where universities specialize in technologies which benefit our business. For example, Manchester, Birmingham, Cranfield, Southampton, to name a few.
Before I move on to the next slide, I'd just like to touch on the element of knowledge transfer and expertise. We clearly have an excellent model of skills, education, early careers and capabilities, and this is seen and supported across the wider business, when we feature in key areas of big campaigns to create that industrial capability, working in partnership, whether it's with the business, if it's in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or Australia. It's not just around developing apprenticeship programs, for example, in engineering or systems and software, but also developing the Academy for Skills and Knowledge concept and operating model. Those are the key components. I'd just like now to move on and talk in a bit more detail around our supporting skills and education.
There's four key areas here, our attraction, our outreach, roadshows, and our STEM ambassadors. Our primary focus is to raise aspirations, promote STEM careers and opportunities across our communities and our young people. It gives me great pleasure to be heavily involved in this and personally engage with young people from a younger age and all the way through. That attraction is a key part. Working, you know, if it's work experience, which we see critical, and we provide over 600 placements each year to raise understanding of apprenticeships and career opportunities, or if it's Movement to Work, and BAE Systems being a founder member of Movement to Work, the work experience program for young unemployed people, and we obviously deliver again, over 100 placements.
That's a very successful program with high success rates and people going into the business to work or to employ them. Open events is really important, especially from an academy point of view, where people can come and look and see and experience the true environment of learning, and I'll talk about that in a bit more detail. Other initiatives to that attraction is Women in Engineering, where students undertake a four-day insight program with the potential to be offered an apprenticeship at level 3, technician in manufacturing, or level 6, engineering degree scheme. And we've provided over 200 places in 2023. Final point around that is T Levels. T Levels is that post-sixteen vocational education and working with colleagues, and again, offering placements in 2023 and into 2024 around digital engineering and manufacturing.
I'll just touch about our education outreach. We have an integrated approach to managing our STEM pipeline, working with schools, education institutions, partners across the UK, including 300 partner schools. This includes recognizing that the journey of young people starts early in primary schools, and it goes throughout their formal education to the age of 18, and we actually provide the engagement and we're working with people from that younger age, but not just the younger people themselves, with their teachers, with their parents, with the community groups, and it's all centered around developing STEM skills, behaviors, and knowledge. I was delighted to be part of our roadshow, and I think our roadshow is a flagship program that uses theater in education to reach out to young people, to change their perception of careers in STEM sectors.
Our joint partnership program with the RAF and Royal Navy began back in 2007, and it started then engaging 100,000 pupils. But it's the longest-running STEM roadshow, theater roadshow for schools in the UK. And I say I was delighted to be part of the roadshow when we engaged our 1 millionth pupil at a local school here in the Northwest back in 2022. Our roadshow in 2024 will be engaging over 130,000 students from over 530 schools. All this can't happen, though, by accident, and we do rely on our workforce, and we have STEM ambassadors, and these are people who work for the business, who volunteer to support, and they're critical in actually being role models of working with schools, working with individuals, and promoting that STEM engagement across events, school-...
secondary and primary education. So I think that gives you a flavor and insights to early career skills and education. What I'd like now is move on and talk to you in a bit more detail around our training academies and skills. The all academies, and you can see a graphic there, which includes 4, but all our academies are demand-led, therefore, it remains important we have a comprehensive understanding of the requirements of the business, not just current, but future capabilities and skills. Currently, we have 3 facilities open, 1 on track to open shortly and a virtual academy. So these are unique by design and layout, and have a different focus and requirement depending on the business need. They do actually replicate the business operations, providing on and off the job, training, skills, capability, and education.
So we have the ASK, the Academy for Skills and Knowledge, at Samlesbury, which supports the air business. We have the SASK, which is the top left picture, the image there on the top left, which is the Submarines Academy for Skills and Knowledge, which is based in Barrow. We have the AMA, the Aircraft Maintenance Academy, over at Humberside, supporting the air business. Shipbuilding Academy in Glasgow is the one on track and coming online. And we also have the one which is flagged at the top right and called the GDA, which is the Global Digital Skills Academy, which was launched back in autumn of 2023, and that has a focus on upskilling quite a significant number of employees in that digital skills environment.
But all of our academies are at the heart of technical vocational training and education, and continuously enhance that delivery of world-class training and education, delivering our people pathways, which are aligned to strategic direction and people planning. Therefore, providing those diverse learning experiences that equips the whole workforce, early careers clearly, but the whole workforce and the extended enterprise, with the skills, knowledge, and behaviors to achieve future business success. And if you know, on the image there, these are state-of-the-art centers of excellence around technical vocational education and training. They are placed in locations, for example, the ASK at Samlesbury is based on an enterprise zone. The Humberside ASK is based at the airport, and likewise, the one at Barrow is connected into communities and the business itself.
That's really important, so we have that engagement with our key stakeholders, our supply chain, our communities. There, just on that picture there, you know, we have over 26,000 square meters of learning space, 140 different learning spaces, and that includes robots, electronics, welding, carbon fiber, virtual reality, you know, hangars, traditional classrooms. But ultimately, we're looking at that agility within the teaching, learning and assessment, going from the traditional textbook all the way through to technology, with a primary focus that responds and provides lifelong learning and continuous professional development. If we move on to the next slide, I'd just like to talk more really about the air business and the Academy Skills and Knowledge. I'm very proud to lead the ASK over here in the northwest of England at Samlesbury. This look...
The ASK itself underpins the future growth and capability requirements around FCAS, so the Future Combat Air System, and GCAP, the Global Combat Program. The ASK opened back in 2016, 7.5—was circa 7.5 sq m, over 3-4 floors, with 42 learning spaces, including the virtual reality cave, practical labs, carbon fiber, welding, machining, training rooms. You know, that, that's what the key focus are on that, skills, knowledge, and behaviors. Today, it's interesting. Today, excuse me, you know, with that initial investment back in 2016 of GBP 20 million, you know, we've had a footfall of over 300,000 people, and we've delivered 1.8 million learning and development hours, which is, you know, a key success to the direction of travel.
But it's really important when you look at the asks, and I'll focus on the air, but they're similar across all academies, is that they're really split into three key areas. And one is the external market, to understand that external requirement from a business point of view, from a community point of view. I've mentioned GCAP and FCAS, but also what central and local governments are looking at, what academia are looking at, but really having a clear understanding of the external environment to the facility. Then delivering that impartment of skills, education, training, if it's through a virtual environment, through a traditional learning environment, but as long as we have that agility and focus on the correct outcomes.
But ultimately, what we're looking for is people to leave the academies with the right tool set, mindset, and skill set, which goes back into the business, wherever that is, if it's locally or globally. The lifelong learning and the continuous professional development, that CPD, is really important for us and a critical part of our success. You know, I'll share, it's a fantastic experience when you're working in one of our academies. I had great pleasure to welcome the Secretary of State for Education, Gillian Keegan, the MP, to our skills showcase event to launch the Oxford Economics Report last year. That was a great example of wider stakeholder engagement. Likewise, on many a day in the academy, we'll have s-...
School children, we'll have colleagues, we'll have senior leaders, apprentices, and graduates, even customers here on the same day, understanding what the true purpose of academies are, and it's really important to us. So, you know, in hindsight there, yeah, I think the key aspects that they are excellent in what they do, and you can just see some figures there for what we do in the air business. You know, we- over 1,500 people in early careers and skills, apprentices and graduates, and those different schemes, and how we work with schools over, you know, 125 schools just in the, just across the northwest in our region.
I think in many ways, I hope that's given you insights to early careers education in our academies, the impact we have on young people and our communities by raising aspirations and promoting STEM careers, and how we just meet, we do meet the existing and future capabilities and skills. But I will finish, and it's important to note, this is a team sport, and, you know, we have a lot of colleagues working in this space to support all aspects of education, early careers, capability and skills. And it's great when we understand and get that external recognition, and I think that just acknowledges what we're doing, we're doing it in the right way. So, for example, you know, 95% of our apprentices complete, which is 30% above the national average.
We have 31% of our females on program, which is significantly, again, excuse me, above national averages. The company has been recognized many times for external awards. If it's the Princess Royal Training Award, the National Apprenticeship Service Macro Employer of the Year award, or the Movement to Work award, and also the Department for Education, we're in the top 100 apprentice employers. So these are really key accolades and kite marks, which really endorses and supports what we do.
And the final one, obviously, we come under the governance of England and Scotland and Wales, of the Education Inspectorate, and BAE Systems has been judged outstanding from a England point of view, but excellence from a Scotland point of view, in all parts of what we do, for the last 14 years. I think that's a credit to what, how, and why we do things, and I'll close there. Thank you very much.
Thanks, Nigel. Appreciate your input. So before moving to Q&A, I'd just like to thank you all for your time today. As a board, we do recognize that tone comes from the top, and I hope you understand better after today's presentation, how important our ESG agenda is to us and how it's at the heart of everything that we do. Martin, over to you for some Q&A.
Thanks, Cressida. We're pretty close to the top of the hour, but we started a little bit late, so there's probably about four or five minutes if we do have any questions that anyone would like to ask. Go ahead and ask them through the operator process, please.
Thank you. As a reminder to ask a question, please press star one and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. Once again, please press star one and one if you have any questions or comments at this time. Once again, please press star one and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. We have no questions at this time. I hand back to you for closing remarks.
I mean, I think clearly, we've all wowed you so much. So, look, I think as ever, you know, where myself and the IR team are, if you've got any other further questions, follow-ups to this, we'd be delighted to answer those. And, our annual report will be coming out as usual at the end of March, which will include obviously all the very latest, 2023 data and stats and things for you. So, Krista, I don't know if you want just to have closing, very, very closing final remarks, and thanks all for listening from my side.
Just thanks to the team and to all of you for your time.
Thank you.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you. Bye.