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The main agency responsible for defence procurement on behalf of the UK Ministry of Defence is Defence Equipment & Support (DES), which is headquartered in Bristol.
There are separate agencies focused on digital infrastructure, estates management and international logistics (as well as others).
The total value of new contracts placed by the MoD during 2023-24 was £16.2 billion. UK suppliers also exported £14.5 billion worth of equipment and services over the same period1.
The defence industry was said to be worth £500 million to the Welsh economy in 2024. Though, as a proportion of the UK’s defence industry as a whole (3.3%), this is lower than our population share (around 4.5%).
The defence industry was said to support around 6,500 jobs in the Welsh economy (2.2% of the UK’s total) – though many Welsh residents will work cross-border and only 60% of these jobs (3,900) were directly down to Ministry of Defence spending2. For most other nations and regions, MoD spending supports between 70-90% of defence jobs.
So Wales is one of the UK’s nations and regions that is proportionally less reliant on MoD spending to support our defence sector.
That can be interpreted both as a good thing (we likely do a lot of international trade already), as well as a bad thing (our defence sector is underdeveloped and under-supported compared to other parts of the UK).
Defence Procurement Rules
The rules for defence and security contracts (and public procurement more generally) were updated in 20233.
The new law exempts certain defence and security contracts from standard procurement rules in certain circumstances4. These include government-to-government contracts, contracts under international agreements and procedures (i.e. NATO), or in the interests of national security (amongst others).
Contracts can also be awarded directly, without competition, in a limited number of circumstances (i.e. to provide services to troops on overseas deployment)5. They can also be awarded if the supplier is a single source of a particular service or product.
Potential suppliers can be excluded from bidding for contracts if they are deemed a threat to national security, have been convicted of certain criminal offences, have breached immigration and human trafficking laws (or equivalent laws in their home country)6.
Would Wales-based companies be blocked from (English) MoD contracts?
In principle, no.
Welsh companies would be able to bid for open tenders (and vice versa). It’s likely that in the years immediately following independence, Wales and England would keep existing public procurement laws and regulations.
We would only change these rules if the Senedd decided to do so based on what Wales needs (though the wording may need to be altered, regardless, to take independence into account – such as removing references to the UK Government).
The UK routinely sources equipment and services from foreign suppliers as long as they meet contract requirements. Some of these include Airbus (multi-national), Lockheed Martin (US), Leonardo (Italy), General Dynamics (US), Raytheon (US) and Thales (France). A lot of these companies have a manufacturing or office presence in the UK (or Wales).
But….
Nothing would stop the (what would be) English government from prioritising English-based companies when awarding contracts that require specialist security clearance, or the kind of contracts where only one supplier can provide the service or product (called a single source contract7). The same would go for Wales and Wales-based companies.
It’s also worth remembering that there would likely be a procurement market in an independent Scotland too; Scotland being more than likely to have a bigger defence budget than Wales due to having a much larger territory to defend.
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UK Government, Ministry of Defence (6th March 2025). “MOD trade, industry and contracts: 2024“
UK Parliament, House of Commons Library (12th September 2025). “The contribution of the defence industry to UK regions“
Procurement Act 2023, Part 1, Section 7.
Procurement Act 2023, Schedule 2, Part 1, Paragraphs 4, 22-23, 25, 27, 28-30.
Procurement Act 2025, Schedule 5, Paragraphs 18-20.
Procurement Act 2025, Schedules 6-7.
Single Source Contract Regulations 2014.
No AI tools were used to draft this post.
