Helping to triple turnover for Flying Fish

During a visit to the showcase, Business Secretary Vince Cable met Managing Director, Emma Pullen and was impressed at the company results following MAS support.

Grant funding was provided following meetings with MAS Advisor Ian Pateman, which enabled Flying Fish to work with a MAS-registered consultant in order to make a series of operational improvements. As Emma explains: "Our problem has never been getting the sales but we needed to reduce our lead times of 6-8 weeks. MAS allowed us to step back a bit from the day to day running of the business and take a long, hard look at how we do things and focus on essential improvements in terms of staff, production output and quality.”

As a result Flying Fish’s turnover has nearly tripled and production has increased by 50%. In 2012 the company produced 70 hovercraft and by the end of this year it will have increased to 105 units.

Emma continues: "I didn’t really have much faith in managerial practices and strategies before I worked with MAS but the advice and hands-on help has been absolutely invaluable to our business. Before I used to say well I can’t afford it, now I say you can’t afford not to do it!”

Flying Fish is Europe’s largest manufacturer of recreational, cruising and light utility craft and was formed in 2001 by Ivan Pullen, a hovercraft designer. The company is firmly established as almost the "industry standard” in recreational hovercraft design. Four models of small hovercraft are produced from their factory in Sandwich, Kent.

Ian Pateman, MAS Advisor says: "Flying Fish has an interesting product but they were experiencing supply/demand issues. Whilst essentially this is a nice problem to have; if it is not addressed it can severely hamper growth and lead to unhappy customers. After the initial meetings to assess their needs they chose the most suitable registered consultant for the job and we were able to move forward quickly. The results speak for themselves, and we’re proud to showcase Flying Fish as a great example of how MAS can work with small to medium sized manufacturing businesses.”