Hunt & Palmer soars into The Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200
International private air charter sales reached £28.2 million
Hunt & Palmer PLC has soared into The Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table as a result of reporting robust international sales of £28.2 million in its last financial year end (2011), more than double the company’s 2009 £13.4 million international sales figure.
The Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 ranks Britain’s mid-market private companies with the fastest-growing international sales, measured over their latest two years of available accounts. Hunt & Palmer is one of the only private aviation companies to make the 2013 table, so can be seen as a true success story and an indicator that clearer skies may lie ahead for the UK aviation industry.
Hunt & Palmer was founded in 1986 and offers air charter globally to, amongst others, large corporations, private travellers, sports teams, film production companies and overseas relief agencies. In addition to its UK base, the company now has offices in Hong Kong, Australia, India, Germany and America.
Total sales for the last reporting year came in at over £39.2 million, boosted by the recent acquisition of Premier Aviation (UK) Ltd, which specialises in providing air charter flights to major rock acts such as Sting and Eric Clapton. The Hunt & Palmer group currently employs around 60 staff worldwide.
Jeremy Palmer, Chairman of Hunt & Palmer PLC, commented; “We are delighted to be included in The Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 and we offer our sincere thanks to the loyal client base of corporate and leisure travellers whose continuing support of our business has aided this achievement. Our impressive international sales growth in the last few years has been the result of some strategic changes we have made to our business model to adjust to the tough recessionary conditions the industry has encountered since 2008.
We have an ongoing acquisition programme targeting both UK and overseas companies, and have concentrated much of our sales and marketing efforts on emerging markets in the last three years, most notably Asia. Our range of services has been extended to include cargo charters and aircraft sales and leasing. When taken collectively, these initiatives have helped us to expand our overseas earnings significantly and we expect our export profile will continue to increase.”