PA Consulting’s Peter Lovell appointed to the Defence…

PA Consulting (PA), the global innovation and transformation consultancy, is delighted to announce that Peter Lovell, its Global Head of Defence and Security, has joined the Defence & Economic Growth Taskforce in the UK.

In response to a changing global context, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), and with support from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, and Secretary of State for Defence, John Healey, is establishing a Defence & Economic Growth Taskforce to identify opportunities to drive UK growth and productivity through investments in UK Defence capability and production.

Peter Lovell will join representatives from UK banks, investors, and the defence industry. The group aims to ensure that increased defence spend represents an opportunity to not only grow the UK’s defence capability, but also to drive economic growth more broadly. PA will provide secretariat support to the taskforce alongside the CBI, Oliver Wyman, and the ADS Group.

I’m delighted to join the Defence & Economic Growth Taskforce to help the Ministry of Defence and HM Treasury unlock the levers of government needed to match UK defence capability to evolving threats. To succeed, the taskforce will require a bold approach to encouraging new sources of investment and reframing public-private cooperation. By investing in defence, public and private funders will supercharge the sector as an engine of growth. And the rewards will be much broader than defence and security, unlocking social and economic prosperity to ensure a secure future for the UK. To build the UK’s defence industrial base, we must recognise that different segments require tailored approaches and financial options. That's how we'll achieve the long term, sustainable growth, and security we are all working for.”

Peter Lovell Global Head of Defence and Security, PA

Building on existing work to date, the Taskforce will operate to accelerated timelines and generate a set of specific and implementable recommendations for the Chancellor and Defence Secretary on how to ensure that further investment in defence drives economic growth. Specifically:

The role the defence industry can play in attracting and developing accelerated capital flows to drive growth across the UK, through national supply chains, dual use platforms, and fostering innovation in the requirements of a modern defence force
Where and how institutional, private, and public capital can play a greater role in delivering outcomes particularly with key stakeholders such as ARIA, NWF, BBB, and DIANA
How Government can take a systemic approach, including evolving buying behaviour and procurement processes, to ensure that innovation is catalysed in the defence industry, time to market is accelerated, supply chains increase in resilience, and financial firms have the right conditions to mobilise private capital at scale.

PA works across the defence ecosystem and financial services industries. Its experts in defence combine their unrivalled sector insight with specialist expertise to resolve strategic challenges for a wide range of defence clients. PA’s work includes serving as the strategic integrator across the defence industry, and guiding and readying leaders on the technological and cultural forces that will shape the sector in the future. PA’s financial services experts combine deep knowledge of banking, insurance, pensions, payments, private equity, and asset management with expertise in strategy, technology, and digital innovation to help clients adapt and transform.