Growth Hub Support Helps To propel CFS Aero Into New Markets

CFS Aero, which is based within a stone’s throw of Coventry Airport, was bought from liquidators by business partners Jon Freedman and David Newhouse in 2012.

Company Information The 25-year-old firm was struggling with its business model of refurbishing and overhauling engines and propellers on a range of aircraft, predominantly on behalf of flying enthusiasts.

Jon and David bought the firm with a plan of stripping the assets and moving it elsewhere but they fell in love with what they found.

However, they knew that they would have to make the business more profitable for it to survive. “The company has always had highly skilled staff,” Jon said, “and they were undertaking extremely technical  work but the problem was there wasvery little margin in the previousbusiness model and so it fell on hard times.“It couldn’t survive because it was charging less per hour than a carmechanic would and yet the quality checks and paperwork that went with it was probably tenfold.” 

The plan

The company was successful in a bid for funding from the Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI) to the tune of nearly £1million and that was set aside to pay for the internal construction work needed for CFS Aero to move into a production line of remanufacturing turbine engines for aircraft. AMSCI was launched by Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable in 2011 and provides funding across manufacturing to support research and development, skills training and capital investment. Its aim is to improve the UK’s advanced manufacturing supply chains global competitiveness and encourage major new suppliers to locate in the UK.

As well as the construction work, CFS Aero also wanted to bring through the next generation of its workforce and also tap into the knowledge and skills base of other companies in the area. After working with the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub, the company was supported in bringing in two graduates from Coventry University. The company is also committed to an apprenticeship programme that will deliver its future workforce – again with support from AMSCI. CFS Aero was also recommended to join the Coventry and Warwickshire Aerospace Forum (CWAF) by the Growth Hub to help expand its horizons to win new work.

The results

CFS Aero is now in a much stronger position to grow by sticking to the principles of the original business that Jon and David bought – but by diversifying into new areas. Not only that, but the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub has also helped to raise the profile of the company on a national and regional level – including coverage on The Manufacturer website as well as in the regional press.

It all adds up to a great platform for the company to grow. “Part of the plan is to bring in new work to the region that we won’t necessarily do ourselves but will sub-contract out and CWAF is an ideal organisation to do that with,” Jon said. “The support we have received is certainly helping us to grow and grow more quickly. “We want to go from 30 to 70 staff over the next two to three years – and this will help us to do that. The new work should be much more cost-effective but we want to ensure that we remain true to the company’s roots too. Overhauling engines from old aircraft is one of the best forms of training a new employee can get.“Some of the machinery we use for overhauling historic engines is over 70-years-old.

When other people from industry come to see us they say it’s like an engineer’s paradise. We want to retain that – but we also make sure the business has the capital equipment and knowledge base required to support today’s aircraft engine technology. “Without the support – from the Growth Hub and the funding we received through AMSCI – we wouldn’t be in this position.”