Leadership
AGP Leadership
Sir Michael Ryan – Industry Chair
Sir Michael Ryan, Vice President and General Manager at Spirit AeroSystems Belfast, serves as the Industry Chair of the Aerospace Growth Partnership (AGP). He provides senior strategic leadership, representing the UK aerospace industry and ensuring its priorities are reflected in AGP direction and decision-making.
He works with government, industry leaders, and stakeholders across the sector to shape long-term strategy, strengthen collaboration, and support the competitiveness and growth of UK aerospace. His role helps align industrial capability with national policy, identify barriers to growth, and support coordinated action across key priorities.
As Industry Chair, he supports the governance of the AGP Board by facilitating consensus and guiding strategic discussions, ensuring initiatives focus on sustainable economic impact, innovation, skills, and supply chain resilience.
Ministerial Chair
The AGP is co-chaired by a Minister from the Department for Business & Trade, ensuring strong alignment between industry priorities and government policy. The Ministerial Chair provides strategic leadership from government, helping to shape the direction of the partnership and ensuring that AGP activities are integrated with wider industrial strategy and economic growth objectives.
The role includes engaging with senior industry representatives and cross-government stakeholders to support coordinated decision-making, remove barriers to growth, and strengthen the UK aerospace sector’s global competitiveness. The Ministerial Chair also helps ensure that policy development is informed by industry insight, enabling effective collaboration between government and the aerospace ecosystem.
Through regular engagement with the AGP Board and its Working Groups, the Ministerial Chair supports the delivery of long-term sector priorities, including productivity, innovation, skills development, and supply chain resilience.
Programme Director
Balaji Srimoolanathan – Programme Director
The Programme Director leads the PMO and oversees the day-to-day management of the AGP. Working closely with the Chair, Board, and Working Groups, the Programme Director ensures that all activities are aligned with AGP strategy and delivered effectively.
Key responsibilities include:
- Providing overall direction and ensuring delivery of AGP objectives
- Coordinating Board activities, meetings, and strategic reporting
- Leading and supporting Programme Managers across Working Groups
- Monitoring progress and addressing delivery challenges
- Managing stakeholder engagement across industry and government
- Overseeing AGP communications, reporting, and key events
Working Groups Leadership
Manufacturing & Supply Chain – Chair: Warren Gee (Rolls-Royce)
Warren Gee serves as Chair of the Manufacturing & Supply Chain Working Group and is Vice President of Business Development at Rolls-Royce. He is responsible for shaping operational and supply chain strategy across both Civil and Defence Aerospace, with a focus on strengthening competitiveness, resilience, and long-term value within the UK aerospace manufacturing base.
With over 20 years at Rolls-Royce and prior experience in the automotive sector, he brings strong expertise in global supply chains, industrial strategy, and large-scale transformation. His background spans commercial development, supplier engagement, and programme delivery across complex international environments.
As Chair, he leads the Group in addressing key supply chain challenges and opportunities, supporting initiatives that enhance productivity, build supplier capability, and improve sector resilience. His role ensures alignment between industry priorities and national aerospace objectives, supporting sustainable growth across the UK manufacturing ecosystem.
People & Skills – Chair: John Watton (GKN Aerospace)
John Watton, from GKN Aerospace, chairs the AGP People & Skills Working Group. He leads strategic efforts to ensure the UK aerospace sector has access to a skilled, diverse, and adaptable workforce capable of supporting long-term industrial competitiveness and innovation.
Under his leadership, the group focuses on strengthening talent pipelines, improving skills development pathways, and addressing emerging capability needs across the industry. This includes collaboration between employers, education providers, and government to better align training provision with current and future sector demand.
His work supports initiatives that enhance workforce attraction, retention, and progression, ensuring that the aerospace sector can sustain growth and adapt to evolving technological and market requirements. Through this role, he helps embed a coordinated approach to skills planning across the UK aerospace ecosystem.
