Sam Orchard is the Inward Investment Manager for Nuclear South West and has nearly 10 years of experience working in the Hinkley Point C Supply Chain team. She is an integral part of Nuclear South West, promoting the region as a premier destination for nuclear investment and opportunities.
She now manages the NSW Inward Investment programme, which has attracted 40 companies to the South West in the last six years, resulting in over 1200 local jobs.
She maintains a sharp focus on attracting national and international business investment into the South West’s nuclear industry and encourages businesses to remain, long after the nuclear opportunities reach their end.
But how has her experience led her to where she is today? Sam shares her story, demonstrating how her in-depth expertise can help businesses land and flourish in the nuclear industry’s hub of the South West.
Hinkley Supply Chain – Building local support
On a cold, wet morning in January 2014, I joined the Somerset Chamber of Commerce as the Portal Data Coordinator for the Hinkley Supply Chain team.
Hinkley Point C had still not reached FID (Financial Investment Decision), something that would not be achieved for another two years.
The team’s mission was to promote potential supply chain opportunities and boost excitement for this throughout the heart of the business community in Somerset.
Growing the registrations on the supply chain portal was important, to ensure local engagement and spend on the project remained strong.
Strong local links
We had strong guidance from EDF at this time and the message of ‘use local’ was being echoed from the higher echelons of management through to the early identified Tier 1 contractors.
At this time, we were also tasked with setting up the early regional joint ventures. These went on to secure site operations contracts, including Somerset Larder, Host and Somerset Passenger Solutions. These relationships and contracts remain strong to this day.
Going regional
It was soon identified that widening the supplier radius from local to regional would be imperative, to ensure the project could access a more comprehensive array of capabilities. With the best will in the world, Somerset as a county could not build a nuclear power station alone!
In parallel with this, North Somerset County Council then provided public sector funding for the team to engage an officer, who started to promote the opportunities of Hinkley Point C construction to businesses. This saw my role develop in responsibility and accountability, with a significant rise in stakeholder engagement, sector focused awareness events and one-to-one business support.
Work continued and EDF received FID. Whilst there was funding from EDF for awareness of the project, development of supply chain opportunities and contractor engagement, it became clear there was a large piece of the support journey missing.
The Hinkley Supply Chain Programme
Companies were finding it hard to grasp why nuclear sector contracts appeared so complicated and were full of stumbling blocks. With this in mind, we approached the Local Enterprise Networks (LEPS) and along with a contribution from the Welsh Government, Somerset Chamber of Commerce teamed up with SWMAS and Business West to create The Hinkley Supply Chain Programme (HSCP). The programme identified gaps in suppliers’ knowledge and supported through one-to-one help, specified workshops, meet the buyer programmes and much more.
SWMAS – strong connections and a wealth of opportunities
During this six-year period I transitioned from Project Lead for the Hinkley Supply Chain Team at the Somerset Chamber of Commerce over to SWMAS, where I became Project Lead for the HSCP programme in its final year of delivery. Here, I was able to continue developing key relationships with contractors, stakeholders and regional companies, to reach the point where this network stands today.
My role has enabled me to foray into other sectors such as fusion, offshore wind, SMRs and hydrogen. The wealth of information and signposting capabilities is almost limitless, and it has placed me in a diverse range of situations – presenting to two people to three hundred people, visiting a small 8-person catering company in Devon to a multi-national advanced manufacturing company in Bristol, and travelling from Paris to Puriton.
Inward Investment
The funding for the Hinkley Supply Chain Programme came to an end in March this year. Throughout the programme, we supported over 1,300 companies to win more than £180 million pounds worth of contracts.
The Inward Investment arm of the contract attracted 40 companies to the South West in the last six years, resulting in the creation of over 1200 job. Inward Investment was successful in securing continued funding, and this is where you find me today, managing the extension of the Inward Investment contract.
I remain heavily focused on the nuclear sector, and delivered under the Nuclear South West banner, I can draw on my 9 years’ experience and contacts to ensure we make the South West an attractive landing place for national and international bases. Going further, it is our aim to ensure they remain in the region long past the completion of HPC, linking to other major South West infrastructure projects.
Get in touch
If your business is keen to find out more about nuclear contracts and supply chain opportunities, get in touch with Sam: Sam.Orchard@swmas.co.uk