AerFin tops league table for second year in a row
Acompany that has seen more than 1,200% growth in just two years has topped the Wales Fast Growth 50 list for the second year in a row.
AerFin supplies engine parts and other services including whole-aircraft leasing or disposal to airlines around the world.
It is headquartered in a 105,000 sq ft former General Electric Aero Engines Services facility at Caerphilly, where it provides engine leasing, disassembly, part sales and technical advice services.
In September 2015 the company added another location at Crawley in West Sussex.
The company was founded in 2010 when the civil aviation sector was still in the grip of the global financial crisis.
It responded to the times by creating a range of innovative end-of-life programmes for both aircraft and engines.
The company has benefited from the strong aviation sector in southeast Wales, being able to recruit a team of highly skilled aviation professionals and seasoned managers from within the industry.
Despite that, in its early years it still suffered the growing pains typical of start-up businesses. Credit for mobile phone contracts was not forthcoming and foreign currency transactions over a certain value had to be done over the counter at the bank.
In 2013 it received a Welsh Government grant to help it relocate from its Cardiff Bay location to its present site in Bedwas, a move which was completed in 2014.
In December 2014 US investment group CarVal Investors took an 80% stake in the business. The investment allowed AerFin to extend its service offering and enhance its platform to become capable of handling higher transaction volumes.
Then in September 2015 it opened a 24/7 on-ground aircraft support facility near Gatwick Airport after acquiring Gatwick-based Airline Services Components.
The speed of AerFin’s growth over the past four years has been staggering. In 2013, before the CarVal investment and the move to Bedwas, it recorded a turnover of £1.7m. In the last financial year, ending in December 2016, its turnover had risen to £68m – a growth of close to 4,000%.
Even over the two-year period (2014-16) covered by the latest Wales Fast Growth 50 list, the company’s growth has been an impressive 1,200%, from £5m to £68m.
AerFin CEO Bob James said: “Caerphilly has been a brilliant base for AerFin and continues to be at the centre of our plans going forwards. It is always great to receive external validation, as it is proof that our team is doing the right things and doing them well.
“We have never chased numbers, but focused on the needs of our customers and how to meet them. I would like to thank everyone within AerFin, as none of this would be possible without their sheer hard work, dedication and talent.”
The company employs 45 people at its Bedwas facility and another 43 at Gatwick.
Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, founder of the Wales Fast Growth 50, said: “Congratulations to AerFin for being the only firm to top the Wales Fast Growth 50 list for two successive years, having grown from a turnover of £1.7m in 2013 to £68m in 2016, an incredible growth rate of nearly 4,000% in just three years.
“They, and the other 49 companies on this year’s list, have again demonstrated the diversity and variety of fast-growing businesses across Wales and are shining examples of entrepreneurship and innovation in the Welsh economy.”
Compiled by Prof Dylan-Jones and sponsored by Barclays, the Wales Fast Growth 50 is a key benchmark for the performance of the private sector in Wales.
This year’s Fast Growth 50 is the 19th annual listing of Wales’ most dynamic businesses. The latest crop come from a wide range of sectors and across Wales, from north, south, east and west, and had a collective turnover of £433m and employed 3,000 people.
More importantly, during the two years 2014-16 they generated an additional £268m in turnover between them at an average growth rate of 163%, while creating 1,500 new jobs.
The full list of Wales’ fastestgrowing companies can be seen in the Wales Fast Growth 50 magazine supplement enclosed with this newspaper.