Leeds Aerospace Supplier Flying Steady After Diversifying

A Leeds-based supplier to the international aerospace industry has diversified to help airlines preserve grounded aircraft with support from Lloyds Bank. This is helping the company maintain revenues while the sector faces a downturn because of COVID-19 disruption.

Aeroservices distributes aircraft tools and components, from tyres to lubricants, to more than 90 countries worldwide. Its customers include regional airlines, national carriers, air freight operators and defence fleets.

With global air traffic dropping by up to 90% during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis, the firm’s order book was hard hit.

Aeroservices is maintaining its revenues after expanding its portfolio to include parts and components that are specifically used by airlines to maintain grounded fleets of aircraft. The company turned to Lloyds Bank, securing a seven-figure loan as part of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), to support this expansion.

To help with its recovery, the business has hired a new director and a supply chain specialist. The appointments follow Alun Phennah joining the company as chief operating officer shortly before the pandemic.

Mashood Akmal, managing director Aeroservices, said: “We serve lots of different corners of the global aviation industry, which has given us a level of protection against what has been a fierce downturn in passenger air travel.

“But it was clear early on that we’d need to diversify to really safeguard the business. Grounded aircraft still need to go through regular maintenance for compliancy and expanding our services into this category felt like a natural step for us.

“The funding from Lloyds Bank really helped us to take our mind off finances and to focus on this expansion, which will ultimately help us to ride out the storm while the aviation industry recovers.”

Natalie Hancock, relationship director at Lloyds Bank, said: “The aviation industry has a long road ahead to recovery, but the opening up of more air corridors between countries around the world holds promising signs.

“Thanks to the ingenuity of Aeroservices management team, the business now has a strong footing to weather the industry’s recovery phase. It’s a great example of a firm we’re supporting as part of our work to help Britain’s businesses recover.”