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.

The Rt Hon Lord David Blunkett, MP

The Rt Hon Lord Eric Pickles, MP

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

The Parliamentary Review Publication, in which this article originally appeared, contained the following foreword from the prime minister.

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By The Rt Hon Theresa May MP

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review. For Her Majesty’s Government, our task in the year ahead is clear: to achieve the best Brexit deal for Britain and to carry on our work to build a more prosperous and united country – one that truly works for everyone.

The right Brexit deal will not be sufficient on its own to secure a more prosperous future for Britain. We also need to ensure that our economy is ready for what tomorrow will bring. Our Modern Industrial Strategy is our plan to do that. It means Government stepping up to secure the foundations of our productivity: providing an education system that delivers the skills our economy needs, improving school standards and transforming technical education; delivering infrastructure for growth; ensuring people have the homes they need in the places they want to live. It is all about taking action for the long-term that will pay dividends in the future.

But it also goes beyond that. Government, the private sector and academia working together as strategic partners achieve far more than we could separately. That is why we have set an ambitious goal of lifting UK public and private research and development investment to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. It is why we are developing four Grand Challenges, the big drivers of social and economic change in the world today: harnessing artificial intelligence and the data revolution; leading in changes to the future of mobility; meeting the challenges of our ageing society; and driving ahead the revolution in clean growth. By focusing our efforts on making the most of these areas of enormous potential, we can develop new exports, grow new industries and create more good jobs in every part of our country.

Years of hard work and sacrifice from the British people have got our deficit down by over three quarters. We are building on this success by taking a balanced approach to public spending. We are continuing to deal with our debts, so that our economy can remain strong and we can protect people’s jobs, and at the same time we are investing in vital public services, like our NHS. We have set out plans to increase NHS funding annually by an average by 3.4 percent in real terms: that is £394 million a week more. In return, the NHS will produce a ten-year plan, led by doctors and nurses, to eliminate waste and improve patient care.

I believe that Britain can look to the future with confidence. We are leaving the EU and setting a new course for prosperity as a global trading nation. We have a Modern Industrial Strategy that is strengthening the foundations of our economy and helping us to seize the opportunities of the future. We are investing in the public services we all rely on and helping them to grow and improve. Building on our country’s great strengths – our world-class universities and researchers, our excellent services sector, our cutting edge manufacturers, our vibrant creative industries, our dedicated public servants – we can look towards a new decade that is ripe with possibility. The government I lead is doing all it can to make that brighter future a reality for everyone in our country.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
Prime Minister