PRV Engineering Looked Ahead – Britain’s Airway Industry Must Too

PRV Engineering are one of the top high precision machining engineering contractors, not only here in the UK, but across mainland Europe too. How did they do it? They did it by making bold decisions about their future, and by being prepared to invest hard cash in cutting edge plant and machinery. Britain’s commercial airway industry faces a similar dilemma.

The Third Runway Debate
The British Airway Authority (BAA) first began lobbying the government back in May 2007. Here we are now over 5 years later in October 2012 with still no decision in sight. In fact the debate should have already been retargeted if Britain is serious about keeping its position as Europe’s premier hub of choice. Take PRV for example. By not being afraid to take difficult steps toward their own future, PRV Engineering has now been enjoying the benefits for the past 2 years. They have enjoyed an increased turnover of over 20% year on year.

We Should be Planning 4 + 6
With the forecast increases in the world’s commercial airway traffic, the government need to be implementing measures now. In actual fact the debate about a third runaway is not going to cut the mustard! To maintain its leading position, we should be talking about a 4th runway and a 6th terminal. Yes of course it’s going to be controversial and it may be that Heathrow won’t be the place to locate the expansion. It may need to be another South East location with fast links to London and its other airports.

Being Number One is All Important
Being number one, or at least being very high in the top echelon is important no matter what business sector you consider. Simon Jones, Chief Executive of PRV Engineering recognised this several years ago, and still keeps this objective in focus today. It’s what drives PRV to ensure they keep their plant and machinery at state of the art levels in the engineering sector. Likewise, if BAA is to realise their ambition of keeping Britain as the number one European Airway Hub of choice, we need the government to be making the right noises now.

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day
So, the independent Davies Commission, (the body charged with the responsibility of looking into Britain’s future airway capacity), needs to get its skates on. With the final report not due until 2015, it’s vitally important that the interim report due next year makes the right positive statements. Getting investors to lay out money will be no easy task. Bearing in mind the time that any actual construction will take, and the “guestimated” cost of any expansion in excess of £1.8 billion, there’s no time to lose.

It’s Never Easy
But PRV Engineering once had a similar problem. When they began their own expansion plans the world economy was in full recession. There was no guarantee what the outcome would be. Yet now they are recognised as serious players; one of the UK and Europe’s elite precision engineering contracting service providers. In commercial airway terms, can Britain afford to lose it’s reputation as Europe’s number one hub? The answer is no. Let’s build on things like the success of PRV Engineering, and the world appreciation of the engineering behind the Olympics opening ceremony, by keeping Britain’s Airway prospectus flying high!