Britten-Norman to build up to 8 aircraft a year following new investment
October 15, 2024
Britten-Norman has announced the successful completion of its second funding round, securing what it terms “significant capital” from Northern Island-based Beechlands Enterprises; an investment it will use to help scale Islander production to eight units a year.
“This welcome investment from Beechlands will enable Britten-Norman to complete its aircraft manufacturing repatriation programme, with the first aircraft destined for the Falkland Islands,” explained Britten-Norman CEO William Hynett. “We will also be focussing on our important international aftermarket operations, ensuring our long-term position as the manufacturer of choice for reliable, high-intensity, low-cost, short-field, sub-regional air transportation”.
The new investment follows the completion of March’s Phase 1 funding round, with investment from 4D Capital Partners set to help turn around the futures of a company 4D founder Alex Silk described as “underperforming since the pandemic”. At the time, Silk added that in addition to bringing working capital, its team would “work closely with management to help the company ramp up production”.
Following this second funding raise, Britten-Norman is now confident that it has “secured sufficient investment from Beechlands to allow it to trade profitably and to generate additional investment organically”.
Maufacturing ramp-up
Bembridge-based Britten-Norman repatriated its Islander production line to its original home on the Isle of Wight in September 2023, marking the first time the twin-engine aircraft would be built on UK soil since assembly was initially moved to Romania in the late 1960s. At the time, the company stated the first UK Islander was due for completion in May 2024, although later suggested that a shift to aftermarket components had since become the company’s primary priority.
“These are independent activities which are being run on a divisional basis with all our business outputs being of equal importance,” confirmed a Britten-Norman spokesperson, adding: “However, the earliest results are likely to manifest in aftermarket because of the more complex nature of whole aircraft deliveries”.
With the first phase of aircraft production underway, the first unit is now due to be delivered in 2025 (with “volumes increasing initially to four aircraft a year and then to eight aircraft per year by 2028,” confirmed the spokesperson).
“As part of the company’s focus on manufacturing, it will invest in more advanced manufacturing tools and machinery, enhancing component production capabilities,” continued Britten-Norman; describing these upgrades as instrumental in helping “reduce lead times, increase output, and improve overall cost and efficiency”. With Britten-Norman seeking to enhance its own capabilities to improve efficiency within its current workflows, this investment in new tools and machinery could enable it to bring back in-house certain capabilities it has previously outsourced – with the company set to be “looking across the UK supply chain for industry partners who have specialist skills that can augment [its] own”.
Powerplants
Manufacturing will be primarily focused on the unleaded piston Islander variant (with around 20% being delivered as turboprops). Although a joint venture (first announced in April 2023) between Britten-Norman and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS) aimed to create a new company to deliver a hydrogen-powered Islander, this was subsequently paused. “Our Green Futures programme remains very much in our focus, although the solutions that will come out of it are likely to include more than just a hydrogen-powered alternative,” Britten-Norman told Aerospace Global News; promising “further news on [its] strategy to follow”.
Director of Beechlands Alison Rankin Frost concluded: “We’re delighted to invest in Britten-Norman. Great people, great product and, now we have provided more capital, great prospects”.
