Andy Fraser on Saab UK's purpose-driven growth

In defence, purpose cannot be abstract. It has to translate into technology that works, partnerships that deliver, and decisions that help keep people safer in uncertain times. For Saab UK, that purpose is driving a period of accelerating growth, as the company expands its footprint, strengthens its role as a strategic partner to the UK, and brings together the best of Swedish innovation and British engineering.

For Andy Fraser, Managing Director at Saab UK, the mission also carries personal meaning. Having served as a British Army officer on three tours of Afghanistan, he has seen what unsafe looks like up close. That experience does not define the Saab UK story, but it helps explain the conviction behind his leadership – and why Saab’s mission of ‘keeping people and society safe’ is more than a line on a page.

Saab has been present in the UK for decades, but the current chapter is more ambitious. Just before the COVID pandemic, Saab decided to create four new home countries for the group: the UK, the US, Germany, and Australia. For the UK, Andy says, “the initial mandate was to create a mini-Saab in the UK.” 

That ambition has moved quickly. Andy joined Saab just over two years ago, and the company has grown significantly during that time. “We’re currently just under 650 people,” he says. “In the time where I’ve been with the company, our headcount has effectively doubled.” 

Success, however, is not defined by headcount alone. For Andy, Saab UK’s next chapter is about becoming “a strategic partner of choice for the Ministry of Defence in the UK”, while also using the UK as an export base for Saab products and services around the world. 

The company is organised around five operating divisions. Four divisions primarily serve the Ministry of Defence, while also offering dual-use technologies. The fifth is built around innovation, including BlueBear, the autonomy specialist Saab acquired nearly three years ago.

Technology that solves real problems
The UK’s recently published Defence Investment Plan sets out national spending priorities for the years ahead, and the alignment with what Saab offers is, Andy says, striking. “The alignment of what the UK is saying it needs in its Defence Investment Plan, and what we offer as Saab UK and also the wider Saab, is perfect.” 

One of Saab UK’s differentiators is the way it connects advanced technology to real-world needs. At its Fareham campus, opened in February last year, Saab manufactures the Giraffe 1X radar. Andy describes it as ‘a software-defined multi-mission radar’ and ‘absolutely market-leading.’

The same site is also home to Saab’s underwater robotics capability. These remotely operated vehicles serve commercial offshore applications and military customers. Andy links this directly to a growing strategic need: protecting critical underwater infrastructure, including cables and pipelines across the seabed. 

The outcome is practical. Saab’s systems help customers inspect, survey, maintain, and protect important assets while reducing risk to people. Andy explains the principle clearly: “The ability to project the effect the user wants, without putting people in harm’s way, is particularly important.”

That same logic applies to autonomy and counter-drone capability. BlueBear has been “controlling swarms of drones with AI for over a decade”, according to Andy. As conflicts such as Ukraine show how quickly drone technology evolves, Saab’s ability to  anticipate, adapt, and respond becomes increasingly relevant.

A recent example is Saab’s R&D work with a UK SME to embed a quantum clock into the Giraffe 1X radar. The purpose is to maintain accurate timing when a GNSS timing signal – a precise time reference from navigation satellites – is unavailable, supporting a reliable radar picture. Andy describes the trial as “a world-first technology.”

The best of both engineering traditions
Central to Saab UK’s offer is Swedish and British engineering working in concert. Sweden, Andy says, brings “a long-term expertise and tradition of innovation – whether that’s smart design, finding operational efficiency, achieving high performance standards, there’s something really quite special about the Swedish ability to innovate.” The UK, meanwhile, contributes deep research capability. “Twenty of the top 100 universities in the world are in the UK,” he notes. “So, we have a constant pipeline of incredible talent.”

This collaboration is visible across Saab’s work. The Barracuda multispectral camouflage system was designed in Sweden, with raw materials still produced in Gamleby, before final assembly in Liverpool. Gripen, Saab’s fighter aircraft, has deep UK supply-chain links too, with Andy noting that “35% of Gripen comes from UK suppliers.” As he concludes, “the synergies when you bring the two countries’ strengths together, help us deliver impact to the customer.”

Saab also practises what it calls a Triple Helix model – bringing together industry, academia, and government around shared problems. A presence at Scale Space in White City, London, keeps the company close to SMEs developing niche technologies. The quantum clock partnership is precisely the kind of outcome that model is designed to produce.

Two objectives, equal weight
Rapid growth creates pressure inside any organisation. Saab globally is close to the point where “40% of employees globally have been with us for less than three years.” In parts of Saab UK, Andy says that percentage is already considerably higher.

His response is to keep culture active, not assumed. Every person in Saab UK has two objectives from him. “One is to delight the customer. The other is to make sure our people love their career – not just enjoy the job.” He is unambiguous that there is no hierarchy here: “These two things are equal.”

The evidence suggests it is landing well. When Saab UK advertised its first-ever graduate scheme – four roles, over the Christmas holidays – nearly 2,000 applications arrived. To sustain culture at pace, the company has adopted a ‘growth mindset‘ framework: simple, actionable principles that include “fail fast, don’t delegate upwards, move with pace.” Managers are challenged to experiment and share results. “It is about encouraging people to try,” Andy says. “Here is a toolkit. It is deliberately designed to be digestible and simple to use.”

Purpose as a leadership compass
Andy’s instincts as a leader were formed before he ever entered a boardroom. He served as a British Army officer across three tours of Afghanistan. “I was very close to people who did not feel safe. I could see it. I experienced it.” 

That experience makes Saab’s purpose more than an organisational statement. “Working with people who you could see felt like that motivated me to do anything I can to make the world a bit safer,” Andy says.

For him, purpose is useful because it gives people direction. It helps connect daily decisions to a wider purpose. Andy puts it this way: “Keeping people and society safe is something that really speaks to me. I use it as my guiding star in all of my work.”

He draws on Simon Sinek’s The Infinite Game, particularly the idea that purpose is a guiding star rather than a finish line. “You never fully achieve your purpose. It is something you strive for, and you are constantly reaching for.”
 
The best advice he ever received, however, came from a mentor: “One of the best things you can do is surround yourself with experts and listen to them.” He sees that approach reflected in Saab’s Swedish-influenced culture: respectful, trust-based, and pragmatic. 

Joining the SCC UK board
Earlier this year, Andy was elected to the Chamber’s Board of Directors – something that sits naturally alongside Saab’s wider role in the Swedish-British sphere. He was drawn to a network with a common Swedish-UK link, but also “a genuine strength in diversity.” 

“For Saab, the Chamber offers both connection and contribution”. Andy sees opportunities to learn from other sectors, support companies interested in the defence market, and identify potential partners. As he puts it, the network provides “a whole new community of potential partners.”

It is also a platform for Saab to contribute to the wider Swedish-British business community. Andy hopes to help other members grow their understanding of the defence industry, while continuing to build the partnerships that are central to Saab UK’s growth.

A company growing with intent
By the end of the conversation, a clear picture emerges. Saab UK is growing quickly, but not casually. Its differentiators are practical and connected: Swedish innovation, British engineering, strong partnerships, and a mission that gives the work meaning.

Andy’s role is to hold those elements together. Together with his team, they’re building a company that can move quickly without losing its culture, serve customers without losing its purpose, and grow in a way that people want to be part of.

That is perhaps why his answer to leading a Swedish company in the UK is so immediate. “I absolutely love it,” he says. Then he adds: “I think I found my professional home.” 

For Saab UK, that sense of alignment matters. The company is expanding because the world around it demands more capability, more resilience, and more collaboration. But growth only works when people know what they are growing for. In Andy’s case, and in Saab’s, this answer is clear: keeping people and society safe.