Wednesday June 3, 2020

FRP secure 40 jobs at Tods Aerospace

Andrew Sheridan and Geoff Rowley from our Restructuring Advisory team have completed the partial sale of Tods Aerospace Limited to defence engineering group Cobham Mission Systems (“Cobham”).

Andrew and Geoff were appointed as Joint Administrators to the Somerset-based business. In the subsequent weeks, they operated Tods Aerospace, complete with rigorous health and safety procedures in place, through the current COVID-19 pandemic to deliver mission-critical products to the aerospace and defence industries.

Established in 1932 as W&J Tod Limited, Tods Aerospace specialises in the design and manufacture of specialist composite structures for use in the aerospace and defence industries and has over a long period supplied products to many of the sector’s leading companies.

The Joint Administrators sold the defence division of Tods Aerospace Limited, including its associated intellectual property and assets, to Cobham. The transaction TUPE-transferred 40 engineering, design and manufacturing jobs.

Unfortunately, without a buyer for the remaining parts of the business, 56 staff were made redundant. Nine staff were retained in the short-term to assist the administrators with the rest of their duties.

Andrew Sheridan, Partner at FRP, said: “Operating through administration is a challenge for any business, let alone a cutting-edge manufacturer during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an incredible achievement for all the team at Tods Aerospace. Cobham offers an exciting new future for Tods Aerospace’s defence division and we wish the team all the best as they join the fold at a world-class global engineering group.

“Regrettably, the sale we were negotiating of the commercial aviation division of Tods Aerospace, ultimately fell victim to the global downturn in the sector resulting from the pandemic. We are now working with the Redundancy Payments Service to support all affected employees.”

Unitech Aerospace, the Group company, and its other subsidiaries are not part of the administration.