Expanding Airframe Designs appoints new advisory board chairman

Lancashire aerospace specialist Airframe Designs has appointed a new chairman of its advisory board as it continues to expand its services in engineering and additive manufacturing to the aviation and related sectors worldwide.

International business leader, David Roberts, will help lead the Blackpool-based business, having developed a number of successful organisations across a range of sectors, including food and industrial packaging, manufacturing, Software as a Service (SaaS), facilities management, automotive and aerospace engineering at chairman level.

He will be working alongside other advisory board members Jeff Cheetham - a non-executive director of the North West Aerospace Alliance - and CEO of Airframe Designs, Jerrod Hartley.

David said: “It’s exciting to be working with Airframe Designs at this time of growth across the business.

"We are nurturing young talent by employing apprentices, investing in technology across all services including additive manufacturing and ultimately increasing our capability for customers.”

David is currently chairman of search and booking portal for recreational sports, Playfinder, and executive chairman of Aquaspira Limited, the leading large diameter pipe and tank systems manufacturer for the water and construction industry.

He is also executive chairman of immersive visual experience company, Realtime.

David’s skill is in working with and developing the organisations he is involved with often backed by private equity or family office investors from initial investment to exit.

With diverse experience in delivering growth and operational performance, Jeff Cheetham has worked at various strategic management levels for BAE Systems and is a non-executive director of the North West Aerospace Alliance.

Jerrod Hartley, CEO of Airframe Designs, said: “David and Jeff’s wealth of experience and knowledge are invaluable at this point in our growth plan and together we can make a difference as we develop the diversity and scale of our services.

"The board has a leading role to play in business planning, growth strategy and ensuring we remain accountable to our stakeholders.”

Airframe Designs continues to grow its specialisms in producing highly complex components to some of the largest aviation, defence and space organisations worldwide.

Recent projects undertaken by the company include the integration of new systems into heavy lift drone platforms, conceptual and early life cycle design for new uncrewed air-systems, test rig and tooling structures for wide variety of aerospace build programmes, and most recently the development of a novel SATCOM antenna installation solution for the business jet market.