CAeS resignations cast doubt on company’s future direction
April 16, 2025
The ‘stepping down’ of a number of members of staff at Bedfordshire-based Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS) appears to cast fresh uncertainty as to the business’ immediate future direction, with its work to finalise a hydrogen-electric aircraft propulsion unit (initially envisioned as a retrofit option for the Britten-Norman Islander) potentially called into question.
A Companies House filing on 27 March revealed that CEO Paul Hutton (who has held the role for nearly a decade) is no longer a director, joining Sir Ian Gray who departed the company on 11 February; leaving just three directors in place. On 14 April, CAeS chief strategy officer Jenny Kavanagh also announced she is on gardening leave, commenting on LinkedIn: “My time at CAeS has been nothing short of transformative. It’s a fantastic company, full of brilliant people doing truly pioneering work in zero-emissions flight”.
Alongside other ongoing endeavours, the complex aircraft modification and cleantech propulsion company’s most high-profile project has arguably been its ongoing work in ‘Project Fresson’, established in 2021 to explore the conversion of a nine-seat Islander to gaseous hydrogen propulsion. Partly grant-funded by the Aerospace Technology Institute, as of April 2023 it had also secured over £14 million in private funding from global investors. The same month, CAeS and Britten-Norman announced “their intention to merge and to create the world’s first fully integrated, zero-emissions sub-regional aircraft for entry into service in 2026”.
As recently as February 2025, CAeS was selected in the second stage of the Civil Aviation Authority’s Hydrogen Challenge; stating it would use its “Project Fresson 1a to test potential regulation for fuel cell electric propulsion systems on aircraft”. (CAeS had previously been a champion of the first funding round, alongside Exeter Airport Consortium and ZeroAvia; noting at the time that it expected to “conduct ground testing and flight trials this year”.)
However, despite successfully designing the integration of the hydrogen fuel cell system and the electric propulsion unit into the nacelle of the Islander – something described by CAeS as “a miracle of packaging” – the company has faced repeated delays to its first flight. In 2024, Britten-Norman also likened the potential merger to a proposed marriage it would be prudent not to rush into.
When Aerospace Global News last visited CAeS in June 2024, the company was expecting to close its Series B funding round imminently; a milestone which would enable it to purchase testing services and additional specialist equipment for Project Fresson. At the time, market entry of its modular, scalable hydrogen propulsion system was still set for 2027. “We’re not on the original timeline because we found insurmountable technical problems – we resolved all of those – it’s really just access to funds,” revealed Hutton, who nevertheless acknowledged “challenging” market conditions.
However, additional funding essential to the project’s success does not appear to have been forthcoming. In October 2024, a CAeS spokesperson explained that despite the need to secure additional investment remaining an ongoing concern, CAeS’ alternative activities – including individual R&D projects as well as its AXSIM engineering business – were continuing as normal, leveraging the companies’ well-established position within the industry and building on its 30 years of experience.
Records indicate one of a previous pair of B-N Islanders belonging to CAeS as ‘active’, although as reported by Flight Global in January 2024, CAeS confirmed it was to relinquish its CAA Part 145 maintenance approval alongside laying off its maintenance staff; suggesting a move away from the aircraft-centric endeavours. CAeS has been approached for comment.
However, Bulgarian-headquartered cargo drone company Dronamics confirmed to Aerospace Global News that “the MoU under which CAeS is working on developing a hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system for our Black Swan [UAV] is in place as announced”. First signed in October 2023, this agreement will see CAeS develop a half-scale version of the 250kW system being developed under Project Fresson; offering a range of up to 2,500km with a payload of 350kg.
