– UK, Crawley – Strat Aero plc, an international aerospace company focused on the rapidly emerging Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (‘UAV’) sector, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Gerard Dempsey to the Board as Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect. Mr Dempsey is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ experience in senior finance roles across a range of global industries. Mr Dempsey’s appointment is in line with the Company’s more expansive strategy focussed on building a vertically integrated UAV offering, covering all aspects of the value chain, including the provision of innovative software platforms, hardware and pilot training services, both military and commercial. Bob Salluzzo, the outgoing Chief Financial Officer, will remain on the Board as a non-executive Director.
Mr Dempsey is a results driven and commercially focussed Finance Director who has held some key roles in both multi-national corporations and start-up environments. Most recently he was Vice President Logistics Services and Finance Director of Sandvik Mining & Construction Ireland Ltd, a global engineering firm. Prior to this he was Chief Financial Officer of Airvod, a media technology start up targeting the aviation sector. Notable other roles Mr Dempsey has held include Finance Director at Microsoft Ireland, Head of Finance at Guinness, Head of Corporate Treasury and Structured Financing at Diageo, and Senior Corporate Treasurer at Pfizer. He also worked in investment banking and risk management at Schroders Australia.
Capt. Russell Peck, CEO of Strat Aero, said: “The UAV sector is rapidly emerging as a disruptive technology to established business practices across multiple commercial sectors. Strat Aero is rapidly emerging with it. Having recognised the breadth of opportunities available, we are focused on putting together a fully integrated offering including highly innovative software solutions as well as pilot training that ensures we retain as much of the value chain as possible. To achieve this we need a management team that has the experience and expertise required to position Strat Aero as the go to provider of UAV enabled solutions. With the appointment of Gerard as CFO, who brings with him extensive financial and corporate experience, together with that of Mr Paul Ryan as Non-Executive Director earlier this month, we are doing precisely this.
“I would like to thank Bob for his vital contribution to the development of Strat Aero to date, particularly during our AIM admission process last year. We look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role as a non-executive Director, as we move into the next phase of our development.”
About Strat Aero plc
Strat Aero plc is a multi-divisional international aerospace services company, focussed primarily on the provision of Unmanned Aerial System (‘UAS’) training solutions, airline management systems and consultancy services to the international aviation market. The Company has three existing divisions: UAS Pilot Training and Services; Aviation Software, Products; and Services and Aviation Management and Consultancy Services.
The Company is looking to capitalise on opportunities resulting from the forecasted strong growth in the airline industry and in particular, the predicted exponential growth in the emerging UAV industry over the coming decade. Civilian, law enforcement and military applications in UASs are expected to be a dynamic growth sector in the aerospace industry over the next 10 years with the UAS market forecast to grow to more than US$82.1 billion between 2015 and 2025 (AUVSI Economic Report 2013) and the global airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (‘ISR’) market estimated to grow to US$19.23 billion by 2023.
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