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The boss of a British flying taxi company has set his sights on overtaking global rivals as he looks to bounce back from setbacks under the leadership of his controversial founder.
Stuart Simpson took over as CEO of Vertical Aerospace from Stephen Fitzpatrick, best known for running energy company Ovo, in May.
He said the difference now compared to last year, when a pilotless prototype crashed in the Cotswolds during testing, was like “night and day”.
Vertical’s New York-listed shares have lost two-thirds of their value since the crisis and its market value of just over £80m is a fraction of the £1.6bn it made its market debut in 2021. .
Taking flight: one of Vertical’s electric helicopter-type flying taxis
Simpson is announcing the changes, however, taking a new approach as Vertical works with aviation regulators to try to get the company’s products into the skies. It is one of several global companies in the sector, with rivals including US-based Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation, China’s Ehang and Germany’s Volocopter, as well as projects backed by established aviation giants Airbus and Boeing.
Asked if he thinks he can surpass his rivals, Simpson said: “I have the ambition to do it.”
The idea is that these silent, helicopter-like, electrically powered machines will transport small groups of passengers over short distances between, for example, Heathrow Airport and central London.
Simpson told the Mail the company could create 2,000 manufacturing jobs and urged the Government to back its ambitions.
“We are the only credible European player in this space but, more importantly, I believe the UK can be a world leader in this,” he said.
Simpson added that he “can’t speak highly enough” of Fitzpatrick, who founded the company in 2015, saying he “has been absolutely exemplary” and is “wonderful to work with.”
He said the founder had “fully supported” the changes he had made and would “never criticize looking back” at what had been done before.
“This was a start; he (Fitzpatrick) did an extraordinary job,” Simpson said.
‘The conversations he and I had were: There comes a point where (for) entrepreneurial momentum, you only need a small change, incorporating that structure and rigor.
You are going through a certification process. “That’s not where the business skills are because you’re designing an airplane, you’re certifying an airplane.”
Simpson admits the accident “was a setback.”
“It was a manufacturing defect in one of the propellers that came loose,” he said.
Tests on a more recent prototype that replicates the same scenario have been successful.
The company’s former CEO, Stephen Fitzpatrick, is best known for running Ovo Energy.
The older prototype was built with parts from non-aerospace suppliers, while the latest has 60 parts from specialized aerospace companies, while an entirely new battery system and propellers were built in-house, Simpson said.
“It’s night and day, we are absolutely behind it,” he added.
Fitzpatrick, 47, previously enjoyed success at Ovo, making it one of Britain’s biggest energy suppliers. But the Northern Irish businessman sparked controversy when the company advised customers hit by high energy bills to hug their cats or do some star jumping to keep warm, prompting the company to apologize.
Fitzpatrick remains a majority shareholder in Vertical Aerospace, but there appears to have been tensions over his promise to inject £37m into it, with the company revealing that a second overdue payment remained outstanding.
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