United Kingdom
Suppliers
Thales in the UK partners with suppliers worldwide, with about 70% based locally. Sourcing locally is a key aspect of our sustainable contribution to the economy and job market, particularly supporting small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s). We invest around £750 million annually and provide development support to boost their growth and competitiveness. We also require strict compliance with certifications, laws, and regulations from our suppliers.
Partnering with Purpose: Empowering UK SMEs for a Secure Future
Thales UK is fostering a dynamic ecosystem to accelerate innovation and strengthen the UK’s defence and security capabilities by collaborating with SMEs.
Through initiatives like the Strategic SME Partnering Programme and the Trust My Tech Innovation Challenges, we provide tailored support from R&D access to scalable growth opportunities.
© iStock/gorodenkoff
Key Figures
How to become a supplier to Thales in the UK
What do SMEs/VCSEs/Diverse businesses need to know?
Categories of goods and services we procure:
- IS/IT & Support Services
- Systems and Equipment
- Mechanical
- Electronics
- Systems and Software Engineering and Customer Support Services
- General Expenses
Requirements for becoming a supplier to Thales UK
Mandatory
- An awareness of, and compliance to, the regulatory environment and standards in each of our markets: Defence, Aerospace, Security and Space.
- Commitment to Continuous Improvement of Cost, Quality, Delivery, possibly including membership of the ADS Supply Chain Solutions Framework and associated SC21 Competitiveness pillar, or equivalent programme.
- Cyber Security accreditation such as Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus, ISO27001 or other equivalent national programmes.
- ISO9001 and / or AS9100 if working in the Aerospace sector.
- Willingness to sign the Thales Integrity and Corporate Responsibility Charter.
- Up to date Business Continuity Plan.
- Prompt Payment of their own supply chain in line with HMG regulations and/or the Prompt Payment Code
- Compliance to all required Trade Compliance regulations relevant to their business and their customers.
- Provision of Certificates of Conformity, Material Declaration Forms or equivalent demonstrating full transparency/traceability of the origins of all elements of the provided goods or services.
© Thales UK/PCS
Desirable
- Membership of EcoVadis as part of the IAEG (International Aerospace Environmental Group) ESG insights initiative to help drive sustainable improvements within supply chains.
- Membership of JOSCAR, the Aerospace, Defence and Security industry single repository for pre-qualification and compliance information, determines if a supplier is “fit for business”.
- Membership of national or regional industry trade associations, such as ADS or manufacturing or technical associations such as MakeUK and/or techUK
Collaborative tools
Ecovadis
Thales joined the IAEG (International Aerospace Environmental Group) ESG insights initiative powered by EcoVadis in June 2023. EcoVadis is the world’s most trusted global sustainability ratings company working with enterprises in every sector to help drive sustainable improvement within their supply chains. As such, we encourage all our suppliers to join Ecovadis.
Supply Chain Programme
We support our suppliers to improve their capability and maturity, using our own dedicated Supplier Development team and we are also a sponsoring company of the Supply Chain Solutions Framework (SCSF). SCSF is a simple access, cross sector programme led by industry through a partnership delivery model, led by the trade association ADS and facilitated with the Regional Aerospace Alliances (RAA) and Devolved Administrations (DA). It enables suppliers to improve their competitive performance, highlight opportunities to invest in innovation and digitalisation, as well as helping them understand how to progress towards their sustainability goals. We encourage all our suppliers to look at the benefits of SCSF, starting with the Baseline Assessment.
Within the Competitiveness pillar of SCSF are two tools that we encourage our suppliers to take advantage of:
- SC21 (Supply Chains for the 21st Century): Thales is one of the original sponsors of the programme and it provides a simple standard improvement framework which defines performance goals and standardizes the approach and tools for continuous sustainable improvement. It is applicable for all our suppliers in the Defence, Aerospace, Space and Security sectors.
- Aero Excellence International: a universal standard of Operational Excellence, recognised by the Aerospace and Defence community.
Key documents
Download from the links below