Award leaves Tods flying high

AWARD LEAVES TODS FLYING HIGH

In the wake of achieving the top accolade as Overall Winner in the West of England Aerospace Forum (WEAF) ‘Competitiveness Improvement Programme’ Simon Finch, CEO of Somerset-based composite materials engineering group Tods Aerospace, believes: “This recognition will really propel the company into the top flight of the aerospace manufacturing industry. Typically, as a positive result of this competitiveness programme we have become sole supplier of non-structural components to Westland Helicopters.”

The latest award, to Tods, follows closely on winning last year’s WEAF’s Crystal Globe Award which highlighted a cse study of their partnership, with Westland’s, in design, manufacture and accountability for the on-going supply of lightweight composite aerospace products.

As a smaller size enterprise, Tods have been working closely with WEAF technical personnel on a long-term strategy to enable them to compete effectively as a key ‘first-tier’ supplier to the major aircraft manufacturers.

Currently Tods are manufacturing a diverse range of composite flooring and seating assemblies for the Airbus, Contour, BAe, AgustaWestland aircraft programmes, and have recently won a £3/4 million contract for seating components from the United States.

“WEAF’s competitiveness improvement initiative has allowed us to fully understand and adapt to the culture and expectation of working in the supply chain on multi-national aerospace partnerships and has led to an overall restructuring and investment within Tods” concludes Simon Finch.