2Excel completes refinancing with new partner Signal

The Doncaster-based firm recently reported a four-fold increase in operations at Doncaster-Sheffield Airport, operating 2,373 individual flights during 2020 in spite of the wider aviation sector gloom.

The refinancing comes as 2Excel prepares to mark its fifteenth anniversary of operations in May 2021.

The firm was created as the world’s only commercial aerobatic airline, but has rapidly expanded into providing contract air services for the UK Government, the oil and defence industries as well as VIP charter flights and complex aerospace engineering. As a result, the business has grown from just five people and four aircraft at launch to over 200 employees and 28 aeroplanes.

2Excel said it is one of the UK’s leading, cutting-edge aerospace engineering companies and special mission operators.

2Excel’s co-founders, Andy Offer and Chris Norton, said: “We begin 2021 with extremely solid foundations and with a plethora of opportunities.

“Signal Capital Partners are the right partner for us and this agreement will super-charge our growth, allowing us to make the most of these opportunities.

“While the coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly affected some of our business lines, our policy of diversification provides resilience in unforeseen circumstances and has allowed us to survive and thrive even through this crisis.

“2Excel remains uniquely positioned thanks to our suite of approvals, our credibility with the regulator and our control of our third-party risks.

“Our workforce has pulled together to deliver our operational plans and, through that collective and cohesive effort, this financial success. We look forward to the future in partnership with Signal.”

Anuj Chande at Grant Thornton advised 2Excel on the deal.

Mr Norton and Mr Offer are former Royal Air Force Harrier jump jet pilots and squadron commanders. Mr Offer is a former boss of the RAF’s famous Red Arrows and a third of the company’s employees are ex-military.

Having launched as The Blades aerobatic team, the idea was to replicate the experience of flying with the Red Arrows for civilians, but the market for their passenger flights dried up following the 2008/09 financial crash. So, the pair pitched to use their Extra 300 aircraft to use by training soldiers whose job is to call in bombers or drones on the battlefield.