The British government's decision not to reduce its air defences is a major boost for Belfast aerospace company Shorts. The company is at present seeking engineering work and the decision, included in the British government's Strategic Defence Review, means the number of engineering contracts from the Ministry of Defence should be maintained.

Shorts chairman, Sir Roy McNulty, said the review is "good news for us", and he added that the only way to secure the future of research and development work at the Belfast factory is to attract more engineering work. The company is currently bidding for several significant defence orders.

Later this year Britain will be awarding the contract for the new ASTOR radar system, and if, as expected, the Bombardier Global Express aircraft is chosen as the system's airborne platform, Shorts would be in line for a substantial share of the work, since 25 per cent of the Global Express is designed and manufactured in Belfast, said Mr McNulty.

Last week, the company reported pre-tax profits of £43.8 million sterling for the year to the end of January 1998, compared to £30.1 million the previous year. Mr McNulty said that nearly 90 per cent of the work being carried out by the company's aerospace and missile divisions had been secured within the past eight years, since shortly after it was bought from the British government by the world's third-largest aircraft manufacturer, the Canadian giant Bombardier.

Shorts has recovered well after the collapse of its biggest customer, the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker, just two years ago. But earlier this year, rumours that Bombardier was to move significant design and research and development work out of Belfast, reportedly to its headquarters in Montreal, led to a prolonged row and industrial action by 800 engineers. The company said that it had identified a surplus of 200 engineers, but denied claims that the Belfast operation was being downgraded to an assembly plant. Sir Roy now insists that the dispute is over, and that good relations have been restored between management and the disgruntled engineers.

The company now employs 6,000 people in Northern Ireland, with employment currently increasing to accommodate the new Dash 8400 70-seater and the Canadian Regional 700 70-seater. Sir Roy also referred to the success of Belfast City Airport, which handled a record 1.2 million passengers during 1997.