Cambridge's Marshall Aerospace signs 'option' for Cranfield University move

Aircraft maintenance is a major part of the work carried out by the Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group engineers

An aviation firm has signed an "option agreement" to relocate its 1,000-employee business to another airport.

Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group (MADG) announced plans in 2019 to leave its Cambridge Airport base by 2030.

An agreement for "potential relocation" to Cranfield University's proposed air park development in Bedfordshire has now been signed.

Gary Moynehan, of MADG, said they were "pleased to have been able to secure such a credible relocation option".

But he added "it is important to note that the signing of the option agreement does not represent a final decision".

MADG said the agreement provides it with "the right to take a 150-year lease" on the proposed development at Cranfield Airport, which was granted outline planning permission by Central Bedfordshire Council in 2018.

MADG chief executive Gary Moynehan said the agreement "does not represent a final decision"

Leader of Cambridge City Council, Lewis Herbert, said the authority was "very disappointed to hear the announcement" of the move by the company, which was founded in 1909.

"Marshall of Cambridge is what is says on the tin, a local company which has made an outstanding contribution to our city, particularly its engineering businesses," he said.

He said he had written to the company to ask for a meeting for "detail" on the "position of their hugely skilled local workforce" and the future of its wider engineering and defence business, with is also based in Cambridge.

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Prof Sir Peter Gregson, Cranfield University vice-chancellor, said he believed the relocation "would further strengthen the partnership between one of the UK's leading privately-owned aerospace and defence companies and one of the UK's leading aerospace and defence universities".

Cranfield Airport, between Bedford and Milton Keynes, said the opening of its digital air traffic control tower in 2018 would help make air travel "safer and more convenient"

Mr Moynehan, MADG's chief executive, added: "We are particularly excited by Cranfield's global research airport and are already collaborating closely with them on a number of research and development projects."

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