The UK arm of aircraft maker Boeing, with more than 4,000 UK staff, Europe's only Boeing factory in Sheffield, and apprenticeships, internships and a two-year graduate scheme.
Boeing makes aircraft, defence equipment and space systems, and in the UK it employs over 4,000 people, its largest European base. Boeing UK says its relationship with the UK goes back more than 80 years. Work here includes making 737 trailing edge actuator parts in Sheffield, maintaining and converting aircraft at Gatwick, and supporting British military aircraft such as the Apache, Chinook, C-17 and Poseidon through Boeing Defence UK.
Boeing's UK pages do not give a mission statement. They say innovation is built on Boeing's "core values of safety and quality". Its early-careers page talks about cutting-edge technology, diverse teams and sustainable aviation.
Boeing says it has 30 key sites across all 12 UK regions, from Lossiemouth to Gosport. Boeing Sheffield, a 6,200 square metre factory that cost £40 million, opened in October 2018 as Boeing's first European manufacturing site and employed 75 people in 2022. Boeing Flight Services runs a training centre at Gatwick, the largest Boeing training site outside the US. Research teams work in Glasgow and Sheffield, and a Birmingham facility converts Wedgetail aircraft.
Boeing's early-careers page says its programme is award-winning, citing a CIPD Best Apprenticeship Programme award in 2024 and a first place among engineering apprenticeship employers on RateMyApprenticeship. Staff can join Business Resource Groups, and there is a Career Starters development programme and school and university outreach talks. These are Boeing's own claims. Most programmes need security vetting, and Boeing does not sponsor visas.
Boeing says it has more than 80 UK apprentices. Routes include aircraft maintenance (three years, with year one at ICAT and then military sites such as Middle Wallop, Odiham and Brize Norton), aircraft fabrication in Sheffield with the AMRC, flight services at Gatwick, and business, IT and HR apprenticeships lasting 18 months to three years. The rotational graduate scheme lasts two years, with four six-month rotations, and internships last three or 12 months and run in places such as Bristol, Gosport, Frimley, Middle Wallop, Fleet, Sheffield and London. Applications usually open around September and involve an online form, a video interview and a virtual engagement day. A Machining Operative apprenticeship in Sheffield paid £336.53 a week for 37.5 hours, with a year of full-time training at the AMRC Training Centre first. Graduate pay was not stated.
Website: www.boeing.co.uk
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