Midland Aerospace: a journey from the brink to a King’s Award for Enterprise
Four years ago, the picture looked bleak for Midlands Aerospace.
Struggling with losses and with an order book virtually empty due to poor customer service and delivery performance that was then compounded by the downturn in the Aerospace industry at the height of the Covid epidemic, closure seemed only around the corner.
Today it is boasting a healthy turnover, the orders are increasing year on year, and the incredible business success story has been recognised by a Kings Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category.
The Nottingham based business, owned by parent company the Calder Group, is a supplier of machined and fabricated detailed and elementary components to the Aerospace and Defence industries.
It’s biggest customer is Europe’s largest aeronautics and space company, and the growing collaboration is the main contributing factor to the improved fortunes of Midland Aerospace.
The turnaround of the business was achieved when a new team arrived at the parent Company in 2020 who appointed Gary Roberts as Managing Director to deliver a five-year rescue plan, Vision 25. It was a plan that over delivered by a country mile.
Now Vision 28 already well under way to increase turnover to £30m and double the number of staff employed from 90 to 180 in the next five years.
Reflecting on how things might have turned out Gary Roberts said: “Four years ago, the business was loss-makings had no real identity, no understanding or interaction with customer, no plan, low team morale, and ineffective processes and controls.
“The COVID pandemic was the nail in the coffin for many businesses and, without the support of parent company Calder Group and an injection of funds from the main shareholder, Midland Aerospace would also not be here today.
“In 2021 a new management team set out to turn the fortunes of Midland Aerospace, starting by development of a business plan with clear goals to stabilise then grow the business.”
The relationship between the company and its customers had disintegrated to such an extent that the work simply dried up.
The company was reliant on one large contract in the UK, which provided 40-50% of the annual sales volume, but as performance and reputation declined so did the orders.
Gary was astonished to discover that there was no personal relationship between the business and its clients, including the untapped potential in the shape of Europe’s largest aeronautics and space company.
“All dealings were through an online portal,” he said. “Orders were placed through the portal; Midland Aerospace accepted or declined them and then updated the customer on progress via the portal. There was no direct human interaction on the customer account; the customer was effectively a faceless organisation.
“In the end there were virtually no orders, and nobody seemed to think it might be a good idea to meet with our customers and ask them why!” Gary Roberts embarked on a customer retention strategy, meeting with key decision makers to align Midland Aerospace with the needs of the customer and developing relationships built on trust and collaboration.
On top of a sixfold increase in new orders from Europe’s largest aeronautics and space company the business also diversified into aircraft conversion and began a new relationship with the world’s largest airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul solution provider (MRO) based in Singapore.
The relationship with the MRO solution provider started in 2021 when Midland Aerospace were awarded the opportunity to support their passenger to freight conversion programmes.
Midland Aerospace received purchase orders to onboard 297 new parts within a 2-month timeframe. Midland Aerospace were successful in this initial project and a new customer relationship was born and since then the relationship as gone from strength to strength with orders increasing fourfold.
In 2024 exports accounted for over 75% of total sales and Gary puts the success of the rebranding largely down the work put into re-establishing its reputation as a business that is reliable and trustworthy.
“We have achieved improvements across all areas of the business, estimating, customer services, engineering, planning, health and safety, quality, delivery and finance.”
All of this work has led to the Kings Award and Gary is understandably delighted.
“We are immensely proud of this fantastic achievement. This acknowledgement is a testament to the progress we have made and recognition of a great team who have bought into the long-term vision.
“This award would not have been possible without our customers, who have provided support and guidance over this period of growth, and we thank them for their continued support.
“The award sends a message to our existing customers and potential new customer that Midland Aerospace can be trusted to deliver and that’s not just products. The supply chain demands much more than the product, it demands business ethics, environmental responsibility, cyber security and this acknowledgement demonstrates that we can be a partner and not just a supplier.”
A company with so much to offer
Midland Aerospace offers a comprehensive range of services, supported by an extensive range of in-house surface treatments and inspection capabilities.
Core competencies of Midland Aerospace include:
• Engineering of complex components, assemblies and sub-assemblies
• In-house Programming and Verification
• Machining and Fabrication
• Surface Technologies – Coatings / fully integrated solutions
• Heat Treatment & Non-Destructive Testing
Midland Aerospace is part of the Calder group; a pan-European engineering group, serving a global customer base operating in the aerospace and defence, construction, healthcare, marine, nuclear, oil and gas, security, and other markets.
The company holds several OEM accreditations and is a Tier 1 supplier, supporting a global distribution network in aftermarket spares, repair and passenger to freight conversion across a range of commercial aircraft platforms.
With an outstanding reputation for Quality, Cost and Delivery, Midland Aerospace are a trusted partner, holding a wide arrange of approvals and accreditations including:
• AS9100 rev D
• CAA Part 21g
• AIRBUS
• NADCAP Chemical Processing (Gold Merit)
• NADCAP Heat Treatment
(Silver Merit)
• NADCAP NDT (Silver Merit)
The journey and growth continue with exports accounting for over 75% of sales and now the prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade.
By Andrew Edwards
www.midlandaerospace.com
