Storm Aviation Group

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Storm Aviation Group's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Storm Aviation Group is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

www.aviasg.com

41STORM AVIATION GROUP |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2018

Thomas Buckley, CEO

The “beast from the East”

did not deter us

Storm Aviation is one of Europe’s leading independent

commercial aircraft maintenance providers. Founded in

1996, the business was for some years predominantly

an aircraft line maintenance company prior to 2012. While

previously headquartered at both Luton and Gatwick airports

over the years, they now centre their operations at the colossal

18-acre Diamond Hangar Aviation Hub, at Stansted airport. The

business previously focused just on line maintenance, which is

the routine upkeep of aircraft during normal turnaround periods

on the ground. CEO Thomas Buckley’s desire to diversify,

however, saw them expand their scope.

First, we looked to enhance our training and aircraft-on-ground (AOG) recovery

capability and then later moved into base maintenance – which is carried out

when an aircraft has been removed from the live operating environment and

placed into a hangar environment. These strategic decisions enabled us to not just

grow domestically, but also further expand in the international market; we now

operate subsidiary companies in Cyprus, Nigeria, Spain, Bangladesh and Germany,

employing around 200 people across the world.

The majority of what we do is still line maintenance, and it has been our core

competency for over 20 years. Alongside base maintenance and external aircraft

type training, we have four steady streams of income, the last of which is AOG

recovery, which serves as a supplement; it’s essentially a circumstantial emergency

service for our clients and thus cannot be relied upon as a revenue generator.

It’s also important to note that all of our operations are exclusively commercial –

FACTS ABOUT

STORM AVIATION GROUP

»CEO: Thomas Buckley

»Established in 1996

»Based in Diamond Hangar

Aviation Hub, Stansted airport

»No. of employees: Around 200

globally

»Part of the Avia Solutions

Group, a WSE listed group

»Supports over 40 major

airlines

»Handles around 40,000

aircraft per year

»www.stormaviation.com

»www.aviasg.com

Storm Aviation Group

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

42 | STORM AVIATION GROUP

wecurrently do not work in the private

or military aviation sectors.

Aviation is incredibly well regulated;

anyone involved either directly or

indirectly has to adhere to regulations

that are designed to uphold the

strictest of safety standards.

After working closely with the Civil

Aviation Authority and the European

Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), we

massively up-scaled our training

operations to reflect the kind of

standards the industry required.

After raising the bar while retaining

our competitive pricing, we can now

proudly say that Storm offers high-

class, industry-leading and cost-

effective training that doesn’t come at

a ridiculous premium.

Three values, five years

When I took over at the end of the

2012 financial year our business lost

close to £2.5 million. Over five years

of constant focus on what we do well

and removing unprofitable elements,

we managed to turn things around,

and at the end of the 2017 financial

year, closed with £1.6 million profit;

the hard work of everyone involved

at Storm has been instrumental to

every single step of that success. We

had previously concentrated just on

line maintenance – now we offer four

different broad categories of service

which complement one another.

To achieve this, we promote three

central values for all staff: safety,

quality and sustainability. Without any

one of those three pillars, we are dead

in the water. As a service provider, we

believe that any given company should

live by this mantra.

These values really did propel the

move to our new premises in Stansted,

which, in turn, laid the foundations

for our attaining the necessary

accreditations for base maintenance.

This process took around 18 months

to complete, and we soon started

looking for a solid, reliable base

maintenance contract. We set

about securing an agreement with

a major airline in the winter of that

year, and managed to do so. After

finalising a contract with Easyjet, we

could undoubtedly confirm that the

company was well on the way to full-

scale financial recovery with excellent

prospects for the future.

Service and excellence

We provide a quality service at a

competitive price, and have seen

organic growth with clients with whom

we now have long-term contracts.

Over the years, we have had to reach

out and attract airlines, including

Emirates, Etihad and Lufthansa; the

kind of demand and quality they

require is monumental, and the

service we provide often necessitates a

personal relationship.

The aviation world comprises a

relatively small and well-informed

network; reputation is key. We have

won contracts where we have pushed

The Diamond Hangar: large

enough for two 747s

Aviation is

incredibly well

regulated;

anyone

involved either

directly or

indirectly has

to adhere to

regulations

that are

designed to

uphold the

strictest of

safety

standards

“

43STORM AVIATION GROUP |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2018

and pushed to ensure high levels of

service and demonstrable success,

then used that momentum and our

clients’ reputation to experience

further growth. We get the kind of

clients we do as a result of our hard

work and philosophy of continuous

improvement.

Of course, within such a tight-

knit circuit, trade shows and other

conventions do matter. Getting

yourself known in circles such as

the International Airline Technical

Pool (IATP) conference, where 110

global airlines are generally present,

is arguably beneficial. Our success

and effort has also truly reached a

demonstrable milestone at these

events; I was the conference’s opening

speaker both this March in Riga and

last March in Dublin.

Turning it around

The first obstacle to overcome was

straightforward: we just weren’t

succeeding financially. The journey to

recovery has been no easy one, but

after a long and tumultuous period of

reorganisation, we stripped everything

down and broke even in 2013.

From this foundation, we could truly

rebuild – after overcoming all those

challenges and hurdles along the way,

we are now profitable each year and

successful with year-on-year growth at

all levels.

We face the same challenge every day,

however, in airline price cuts. When

tickets get cheaper, it has a ripple

effect for everyone else involved in the

industry. There are such strict and high

safety requirements that everyone has

to operate to, and being as efficient

and effective as possible is no easy

feat. We already deal in a low-margin,

high-volume business, and we cannot

cut corners. Airlines pay, but they do

expect you to drive innovations and

efficiencies. It’s not always an easy

balance to strike.

Planning for an uncertain

future

Brexit is unavoidable for the UK

aviation industry and the road ahead

is far from clear; we have acted

promptly to mitigate associated risks

as best we can. We maintain aircraft

to EASA standards and accreditations;

considering their nature as a European

body, the future is uncertain in our

industry. A lot of countries recognise

EASA requirements, but the future

depends, in part, on how open the

communication channels are.

As a result, we are striving to plan for

every possible eventuality – whether

or not we remain fully governed by

EASA standards, accept and recognise

EASA without fully embracing them

or decide to operate from Europe

under our German entity, we have

an all-encompassing slew of plans in

place to cope with whatever the future

brings. Regardless of whatever Brexit

agreement is finalised, we will continue

to deliver the quality and excellence

we’re known for now, while remaining

ultimately profitable.

Brexit is

unavoidable

for the UK

aviation

industry and

the road

ahead is far

from clear; we

have acted

promptly to

mitigate

associated

risks as best

we can

“

Satisfaction guaranteed at

Storm Aviation

www.aviasg.com

This article was sponsored by Storm Aviation Group. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng.

Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng

This year’s Parliamentary Review reflects on a tumultuous and extraordinary year, globally and nationally. As well as being an MP, I am a keen student of history, and I am conscious that 2020 would mark the end of an era. It will be remembered as the year in which we concluded Brexit negotiations and finally left the European Union. Above all, it will be remembered as the year of Covid-19.

In our fight against the pandemic, I am delighted that our vaccination programme is beginning to turn the tide – and I pay tribute to the British businesses, scientists and all those who have helped us to achieve this. But the virus has dealt enormous damage, and we now have a duty to rebuild our economy.

We must ensure that businesses are protected. We have made more than £350 billion available to that end, with grants, business rates relief and our furlough scheme supporting more than 11 million people and jobs in every corner of the country, maintaining livelihoods while easing the pressure on employers. The next step is to work with business to build back better and greener, putting the net zero carbon challenge at the heart of our recovery. This is a complex undertaking, but one which I hope will be recognised as a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Through the prime minister’s ten point plan for a green industrial revolution, we can level up every region of the UK, supporting 250,000 green jobs while we accelerate our progress towards net zero carbon emissions.

With our commitment to raise R&D spending to 2.4% of GDP and the creation of the Advanced Research & Invention Agency, we are empowering our fantastic researchers to take on groundbreaking research, delivering funding with flexibility and speed. With this approach, innovators will be able to work with our traditional industrial heartlands to explore new technologies, and design and manufacture the products on which the future will be built – ready for export around the globe.

And I believe trade will flourish. We are a leading nation in the fight against climate change. As the host of COP26 this year, we have an incredible opportunity to market our low-carbon products and expertise. Our departure from the EU gives us the chance to be a champion of truly global free trade; we have already signed trade deals with more than 60 countries around the world.

As we turn the page and leave 2020 behind, I am excited about the new chapter which Britain is now writing for itself, and for the opportunities which lie ahead of us.

Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy