A message from our Chairman – Sir Peter Wall
The ‘twenty tens’ are behind us and we are braving a new decade. The last ten years have brought some massive changes – the advent of social media, the rise of China and the power of US technology companies like Apple, Amazon and Google; and for the UK of course, eventually Brexit. Some things haven’t moved as much – the world economy has been pretty flat and Weymouth FC and now Yeovil Town FC are still playing some exciting football.
And what about FGP, Lufton and the mighty Ramp? Each of our companies is in a very different situation than it was a decade ago. Back then testing market conditions and various internal factors such as cash flow posed threats to our turnover and profitability, and in some cases to our very survival. Relief arrived in 2015 in the form of Cyrus investment fund. That allowed each business to reset, adapt to evolving customer needs and grow, before Cyrus itself was wound up.
Our investors are now taking an even more direct interest in each of our businesses, which we appreciate, and we are fortunate to have Sandy Dunn as a Board member. We are maturing towards a single ‘Aerospace Group’, in effect a tight family of companies that allows us to be more effective, more efficient, more profitable and hence more resilient. This progress has underpinned the very significant investment we have seen in the past 2 years, especially into new machinery and equipment.
The recent past has had its political and economical challenges for the UK and we can be extremely proud of our current situation and what has been achieved. This is, of course, testament to the professionalism and hard work from everybody in our highly experienced workforce who consistently deliver such fine products and services to our customers. For that, the Board and the senior leadership of the business owe you all our sincere gratitude.
As we take on the next 10 years we will feel the winds of change from the recent General Election. These should be pretty positive: the government has a strong mandate to complete Brexit and set a new course which will, we hope, be supportive of business. We all have a role to play in seizing the opportunities that should flow from some new-found confidence in Britain and British engineering, that is so dear to our heats.
In our group we will be looking hard at how we develop stronger relationships with a wider range of customers, and the potential to diversify into new sectors such as the electrification of propulsion and actuation systems across aircraft platforms. Improving productivity will be an ongoing quest, and we will consider more automation and the potential for robotic solutions. We are developing a new strategy for the next 3-5 years to bring these strands together, which we will share with you in due course.
The quality and commitment of our workforce is our key advantage. The emphasis on broadening all of our professional capabilities, such as the ongoing Cell Leader program, will grow as we look to develop the way we operate. We must become more adaptive to shifting situations – we can expect even more change in this decade than we saw in the last in every aspect of what we do.
We can be certain that plenty of challenges lie ahead, and also plenty of opportunities; we are well prepared for both. Provided we remain a cohesive and collaborative Group committed to the pursuit of excellence we have every reason to enjoy the next decade that lies ahead. Good Luck!
