The thriving tech scene Bristol and Bath enjoys today didn’t appear from nowhere. The region has a proud engineering heritage and since the turn of the last century – from the UK’s first commercial aircraft factory, to Concorde, to the recent test flight of the Airbus A400M – Bristol has been considered a world class region for aircraft design.
It is within this setting that Bristol-based company Stirling Dynamics was created in 1987 by aerospace engineer and university lecturer Dr Robert Stirling.
The company was initially set up to provide aerospace and marine research into the UK’s MoD. However, 27 years later, Stirling now provides active control technologies, advanced engineering design services and control theory to a wide range of customers, within the aerospace, marine, defence and energy sectors.
A Bristol success story
With headquarters in Bristol’s Clifton Village and several offices throughout the UK and US, Stirling now employs over 100 staff and has an annual turnover of £8 million.
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Stirling has also developed a diverse product offering, including high fidelity control systems into flight simulators and is currently working with Lockheed Martin on the provision of training simulators for military pilot training programs into the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme (the world’s most advanced fighter jet).
“We are proud to be part of Bristol’s engineering heritage and have seen over recent years how the region is growing in confidence”
“Our customer base continues to grow and along with our reputation for quality and innovation” commented Stirling’s Business Development Director, Michelle Raven.
“We are proud to be part of Bristol’s engineering heritage and have seen over recent years how the region is growing in confidence. Now a hub of innovation, the city is developing a strong support structure and now provides fantastic facilities for technical companies, start-ups and entrepreneurs.
“We actively seek out mutually beneficial partnerships. If we feel that a project could benefit from our experience and engineering expertise, we will seriously consider getting involved”
“On the back of this, Stirling has been able to position itself to make the most of new opportunities. For example, last year, when looking to see how our core capabilities could be used in new markets, we made contact with a startup company based in Bath, who had developed a process to create energy from waste water using algae. We felt this project was a good fit for us and became involved in providing the engineering-know-how in creating the control systems and software for the photobioreactor system.
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“This is quite typical of Stirling’s company ethos; we actively seek out mutually beneficial partnerships. If we feel that a project could benefit from our experience and engineering expertise, we will seriously consider getting involved.”
Looking to the future
At the end of November this year, Stirling announced the exciting news of a significant investment deal. Enact, the dedicated SME fund managed by private equity house Endless, has taken a majority stake in Stirling Dynamics Limited.
Enact has ambitious plans for the business with significant capital to be invested in supporting the development of the existing product range, continued product diversification and enhancement of the consultancy services offering.
Chris Cormack, investment director at Enact said: “Stirling Dynamics has an excellent reputation and track record, backed by 25 years of accumulated experience, IP and know-how in the advanced engineering sector and we are delighted to support the existing management team in delivering their plans for further growth”.
“We have ambitious plans for future growth” continued Ms Raven, “and these are exciting times for the company.”
You can follow Stirling Dynamics on Twitter and for more information head to the Stirling Dynamics website.
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