Pennant International Group PLC, who took over Aviation Skills Partnership (ASP) in 2019 have announced their plans for the future of the organisation.
According to a statement from Pennant, with effect 1st January 2020, ASP’s ‘Charter for Aviation Skills’ will be advanced through a new entity called the ‘Aviation Skills Foundation’ (ASF) which is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. Pennant also say that by mutual agreement, Simon Witts, the ASP Founder, has stood down as a director of ASP and employee.
Pennant say that the new organisation will focus on:
• Using the ‘Charter for Aviation Skills’ as a vehicle to continue to collaborate and co-operate with stakeholders in the aviation industry to further the goals of the Charter for the benefit of the aviation industry;
• Enhancing the range and scale of existing and future educational and training programmes for the benefit of people who wish to enter the aviation industry at the beginning of their careers, or as a late entrant;
• Within a wider collaborative framework, assist stakeholder organisations in their mutual efforts to enhance the aviation industry’s youth agenda throughout all parts of the UK;
• Bringing partners together who may wish to form independent commercial relationships to deliver aviation-related training in all parts of the UK.
Pennant says that it will act as an ‘arms-length’ parent and will not receive any dividends from any surpluses generated by the ASF. However, Pennant will support ASF through covering a proportion of the costs of ASF through the group’s working capital facilities.
All revenues generated by ASF will be directed towards covering the costs of the ASF and all surpluses generated will be reinvested into supporting the ASF organisation and its goals. Modest sponsorship of certain activities to support the Charter goals will be sought from appropriate partners.
Pennant will also participate in supporting the Charter goals as an independent stakeholder and will be free to engage with other signatories of the Charter.
Meantime, Simon Witts has set-up ‘Aviation 360’, a new organisation with a mission to: “ re-define aviation as a sector, spark the interest and then explain the demand and role requirements.”
According to the Aviation 360 website, the organisation will: “…help to create and form the right relationships amongst stakeholders (aviation and non-aviation) that are able to promote Aviation as a Sector in its own right. In doing this across the regions and nationally, it is able to play its part in assuring its sustainability through assisting industry to get the right people, training, facilities and outcomes.”
