GE sales and profits take off
GE Aircraft Engine Services, the South Wales test and repair company, has tripled its profits and seen turnover break through £1bn after a switch in strategy. The Nantgarw company, owned by GE, saw business take off after it chose to concentrate on core GE engines such as the GE90. It predicts further growth after making a pre-tax profit of £33.9m in 2009, up from £11.2m the year before, on turnover of just over £1bn, up from £817m.
Managing director Adrian Button told Insider that work on the powerful GE90 was increasing, on the popular CFM56 engine was strong and on the GP7000, which powers the new Airbus A380, was expected to increase. He said growth was supported by the company’s apprentice scheme and links with local schools, colleges and universities.
He said: “We are a high-skill business and therefore need to ensure a strong talent pipeline. At the moment we have over 100 apprentices and interns on our books.”
Button added: “We have forged close links with the Welsh Assembly Government and they have been instrumental in supporting some key strategic investments that have underpinned the long-term future of this facility.”
The company, which employs 983 staff at Nantgarw, just north of Cardiff, is developing new markets in China and the Middle East. It is expected to overhaul aircraft engines at its 1.2 million sq ft of workshop space in Nantgarw this year.
Politicians have been keen to get involved with GE, notably David Cameron, who visited the plant on his first trip to Wales after becoming Prime Minister. He praised the company’s record on job creation and its apprenticeship scheme. First minister Carwyn Jones was given a tour by apprentices at the site and unveiled a plaque commemorating the 115th overhaul of a GE90-115B engine.
Button, who is from South Wales, returned home to run the Nantgarw plant after working for GE in the US. He said encouraging potential staff was vital to the manufacturing sector in Wales and in the UK: “The future is continued investment in training, making engineering an attractive career option and targeted investment in high-tech industries with future growth potential.”
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25 August 2010
Source: Insider Media
