Grant Skinner

Aernnova is a global leader in the engineering, design, manufacture and support of advanced composite and metallic aerostructures. Through its engineering and manufacturing sites in Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Mexico, Aernnova will benefit from strong growth in air travel and, from its defence hubs in the US and UK, will respond to increasing defence demand.

Ama Capital is a UK lower mid-market investment firm with a unique operator led model. I lead Specialist Industrials as one of a team of in-house operating partners who are all proven industry leaders and provide real world, best-in-class, strategic and operational support.

Working with private equity firms to screen potential deals, build relationships with management teams to position as the preferred buyer, conduct due diligence and, as Chairman, develop and deliver investment theses and value creation plans. Deals include, • Manufacturer of critical parts for aeroengines • Aftermarket services business • Investment theses for manufacturer of technologically advanced structural parts • A commercial aircraft painting company with operations in Europe and USA • Precision forger and a manufacturer of aeroengine parts • Supply chain solutions business • Specialty coatings company based in Ireland • Forgings manufacturer • International automotive parts manufacturing business • Assessment of two businesses in distress due to coronavirus-driven downturn • Advising an investor on standing up a newly built factory to become operational • Industry screening and deal sourcing with investment firm

Spent some long-planned time with family.

Led a growing Aerospace & Defense portfolio that ultimately comprised 10 companies and employed more than 9000 people worldwide. From 2007 to 2017 grew revenues from $700m to $2.7Bn through M&A, JV’s and transforming businesses. Had P&L responsibility for the group of companies, led detailed operational reviews and personally took board positions on the following group company boards to drive investment thesis and business plan delivery with performance improvement to achieve year-on-year sales and profit growth, Chairman, SR Technics, Zurich, Switzerland (Commercial aircraft MRO) Chairman, Turbine Services & Solutions, UAE (Aerospace & Industrial Gas Turbine Services) Vice Chairman, Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies, UAE (Commercial aircraft MRO) Vice Chairman, Horizon International Flight Academy, UAE (Rotary and fixed wing pilot training) Vice Chairman, Strata, Al Ain, UAE (Composite Aerostructures manufacturing) Board Member, Piaggio Aero, Genoa, Italy (Business aircraft, unmanned air vehicles, engines & MRO) Closed joint venture and partnership agreements with Boeing, Airbus, GE, Rolls-Royce and Solvay to position the group for the next phase of growth.

COO of the startup team, defining the strategy, with execution plans, to build a portfolio of aerospace companies for Abu Dhabi with global footprint and customers. Responsible for the operational and financial performance of the businesses, along with strategic development and growth. Led the team to refinance and take control of SR Technics. As Chairman, subsequently led a restructuring that increased the EBITDA significantly, resulting in exiting 80% of the business. As Vice Chairman, led the carveout of Engine Services from Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies and exited the remainder of the business. Led the restructuring of Horizon pilot training academy, positioning the company for growth and subsequent partial divestment. Secured an initial £1Bn commitment in aerostructures work packages from Airbus, obtained investment approval and started Strata, a composites aerostructures company, of which I became Vice Chairman, recruiting the startup CEO and working closely the team to build out the new company. Strata is now a tier one supplier to both Airbus and Boeing. Launched Sanad, a component and engine leasing business that achieved attractive standalone returns but also acted as a major value creation initiative for our MRO businesses by linking leasing deals with airlines to long-term MRO contracts from them. The company had more than $1Bn assets under management by 2017. Monthly business reviews of AMMROC, our military MRO JV with Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky, as it transitioned to deliver performance-based logistics to the UAE Armed Forces. As a board member of the business aircraft manufacturer Piaggio in Italy, oversaw company restructuring in the face of the global business aviation downturn. Also, as Chairman of the Audit & Risk Committee, put in place risk management and audit processes, and detailed cash forecast reviews.

As a member of the Executive Committee of Messier-Dowty International I led one of three global business units with customers in the USA, the UK, France, Germany and South Korea. My team was based in Seattle (USA), Toronto (Canada), Gloucester (UK) and Paris (France). Also, as Managing Director of Messier-Dowty Limited I had responsibility for the UK site of 1100 people.

Business development - led the team that dislodged the established long-term supplier to Boeing by winning the Boeing 787 landing gear contract, worth in excess of $2Bn.

Responsible for programs led by Program Managers in Canada, the UK and France with customers in Europe, North America and Asia.

Led a senior team to drive cultural change and increased employee involvement and empowerment through fundamental changes to the management process.

Implementation of lean tools such as 5s, value stream mapping, kaizen, setup reduction and SPC.

Introduced a make/but policy, outsourced 80% of the part count and re-organised production facilities and teams from a functional basis to cross-functional cellular manufacture.