Flying Colours sees continued growth

Business is soaring for Peterborough-based Flying Colours, and the company is looking ahead to ensure that business continues to grow, its president said yesterday.
John Gillespie was the guest speaker at the Peterborough Rotary Club’s Monday lunch meeting.
Flying Colours, a family-run business, began in Peterborough 35 years ago with 25 employees.
Now the company boasts 165 employees, and Gillespie said one of its biggest challenges is finding people with the skills the business requires.
To combat that, the company approached Fleming College and helped create an interior technician program.
Fleming College secured federal funding for the program, Gillespie said, and Flying Colours has hired 35 people from it since it began in June 2008.
Gillespie said one of the biggest trends in the aviation business is to refurbish 50-passenger jets into privately owned or corporate aircraft.
Doing that is less costly than building a private plane from scratch, he said, and the owners still feel like they’re getting something brand new.
The North American market isn’t large, he said, but Flying Colours’ jets go to countries like Dubai, Taiwan, China and India. The aviation market is a lot like the boating market, Gillespie said. Owners are usually looking to get the bigger, better model.
25/08/09 Sarah Deeth/The Peterborough Examiner, USA

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Foreign Aug 2009