Bruce Dickinson raises £5m to boost aviation business

BRUCE Dickinson, the lead singer with heavy metal band Iron Maiden, has raised £5 million cash to boost the manufacturing capabilities of his aviation business.

Dickinson and business partner Mario Fulgoni founded aircraft maintenance and flight training firm Cardiff Aviation last year after they took over a former RAF hanger at the Welsh government’s St Athan-Cardiff airport enterprise zone. Government agency Finance Wales has invested £1.6m, while the remainder will be provided or facilitated by private investors including Dickinson and Fulgoni.

Funds will be used to expand the management team as well as achieve European Aviation Safety Agency approvals that will allow the firm to manufacture and certify aircraft parts alongside its maintenance and training operations.

Dickinson, who is currently on a European tour with the band, said the company’s next move would be to recruit a commercial director. He added: “We will follow up with expansion of the operational and technical teams to address our current growth and increasingly lucrative contracts with both UK and international aviation businesses.

“We also plan to invest in more engineering equipment to supplement and enhance the already excellent technical capability at Cardiff Aviation.

“Finance Wales’ long-term backing is the fuel not just to put St Athan on the map, but has the potential to create a much wider impact across the entire South Wales aerospace industry.”

Cardiff Aviation will target the $2 billion (£1.3bn) European maintenance, repair, and operations market, which is currently growing at around 3 per cent a year as commercial airlines look to outsource fleet maintenance.

Dickinson, 54, is a Boeing 757 pilot. Finance Wales’ investment in Cardiff Aviation came from the £150m Wales “Jeremie” Fund.