UK-based specialist aviation services provider RVL Group has received a total of £2.8m ($4.2m) from bank-backed growth equity fund Business Growth Fund (BGF), The Telegraph has reported.
BGF, which counts financial services firms backed by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered as its backers, took a minority stake in the business, and BGF investment director Tim Whittard will join RVL as a non-executive director.
RVL operates a fleet of 15 aircraft based at East Midlands Airport, and provides services including aerial survey and surveillance, passenger and cargo flights, specialist aircraft modifications for survey work, full aircraft maintenance, and aerial dispersant spraying to tackle pollution at sea.
The company plans to use part of BGF’s funding to complete a spray system for a freight-converted Boeing 737 aircraft that will be used to disperse oil spills. The project is expected to be completed in the first half of 2015, pending regulatory approval.
RVL intends to use the rest of BGF’s funding to embark on a fleet renewal programme.
– Photo courtesy of RVL Group