Airport land could be key to Marshall's recovery

Marshall was founded back in 1909

An aerospace company has been in "financial distress" after a year of "firefighting on several fronts", according to an investor report written by Equity Development.

The latest accounts for Marshall Group of Cambridge reported a £120.1m loss for the year ending December 2024, as the firm prepared to leave its airport site.

Founded in 1909, Marshall planned to relocate to Cranfield University's base in Bedfordshire, but the move was deemed "no longer affordable".

Dominic Perry, European aerospace editor with flightGlobal, said the early retirement of the RAF's Hercules c130s had particularly affected Marshall.

He added that the aerospace industry as a whole had struggled with its supply chain.

"With Marshall you have this other issue in its aerospace division of doing aerospace and repair for the RAF's fleet of Hercules c130s," he told BBC Look East.

"When these were retired from service early, it created a black hole."

Marshall Group has more than 2,000 employees

Marshall's revenue fell to £300.9m, down 6.3% from the previous year.

The company reported "cash draining out of the business due to mounting losses".

It sold off Fleet Solutions and agreed the sale of Advanced Composites, closed its Skills Academy and innovation arm Futureworx - and made more than 300 redundancies.

Despite the challenges, Marshall secured a £200m contract to service 12 ex-RAF C-130 Hercules aircraft.

However, delays in the aircraft's sale slowed progress.

Reports suggested that property could be key to Marshall's recovery.

The company previously sold land for the Marleigh estate, developed with The Hill Group, and owns about 460 acres at Cambridge Airport.

The land was estimated to be worth up to £250m.

The plan was to build 7,000 homes on the airport land - and Marshall intended to leave the site by 2028 - despite not yet having a new home for their operations.

In a statement accompanying its annual report, Marshall acknowledged that 2024 had been a year of "firefighting on several fronts", but said it had laid the groundwork for recovery.

However, the accounts warned of material uncertainty over its future, with the business still reliant on asset sales and external funding to stabilise operations.