6/10/2005 Micheál Martin with Enterprise Ireland in London

Mr Micheál Martin, TD Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment with Mr. Mike Naylor of Composites Testing Laboratories and Mr. Frank Ryan CEO Enterprise Ireland at the London announcement

Mr Micheál Martin, TD Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment today, Thursday 6 October, announced the signing of a 5 year preferred supplier agreement between Composites Testing Laboratory (CTL), Galway and BAE Systems Aerostructures in the UK. Under the terms of the agreement CTL will be the preferred testing laboratory for all composite material testing requirements for BAE.

Making the announcement at an Enterprise Ireland business function in London Minister Martin said: "This is a great vote of confidence by BAE Systems Aerostructures in the capability of CTL. For the past 2 years CTL has been carrying out First Part Qualification testing of civil aircraft structures for BAE including the Airbus A380 Inboard Outer Fixed Leading Edge composite panels. It is a credit to CTL operating out of Spiddal that it is the only independent accredited testing laboratory in the EU specialising in composite materials"

BAE SYSTEMS (Aerostructures) is a leading supplier of major airframe structures for the civil aerospace industry. The Aerostructures business offers a totally integrated capability covering design, engineering, supply chain and project management expertise to deliver major structures solutions for the primes, which include Airbus, Boeing, Raytheon, Cessna and Lockheed.

CTL Tastáil Teoranta provides accredited mechanical and physical testing services to leading manufacturers of composite materials throughout Europe. The company's main markets are in aerospace, wind-energy, automotive and Formula 1 racing.