Member Article

Northumberland drone manufacturers hungry for growth

Northumberland manufacturers of drones, QuestUAV, are eyeing up international growth.

The Amble-based firm manufactures small, unmanned aircraft that carry digital photograph equipment for mapping and surveillance.

QuestUAV currently supply to universities, research institutes and Mars research project funded by the European Space Agency.

The company’s drones have flown over Antarctica for Northumbria University research and over the Atacama Desert in Chile.

Founder Nigel King is now keen to grow the firm’s prowess across new markets, and has enlisted the help of Oxford Innovation’s Business Northumberland High Growth Programme.

The firm employ seven people but Nigel is confident that as demand for the product grows, recruitment will follow.

Oxford Innovation’s Mike Jobson is working with the Nigel and his team to develop a strategy for pushing QuestUAV’s innovative product into new spaces.

Nigel said: “We’ve got an incredibly talented technical team but to grow the business further we need to reach new markets and that has proved to be extremely challenging.

“Mike’s wealth of experience in marketing has been so helpful and his ongoing support is providing us with the commercial focus we were previously lacking.”

Former international marketing director, Mike, added: “QuestUAV is a remarkable business producing this incredibly sophisticated range of airborne vehicles that are being flown in some of the most remote locations on the planet.

“The team’s technical expertise is beyond question so my task was to instil a commercial mind-set alongside the scientific and engineering brilliance.

“As well as improving their sales techniques, we’ve also identified some key industrial sectors for QuestUAV to target very directly.”

The £1.35m Business Northumberland High Growth Programme, jointly funded by Northumberland development company ARCH, Northumberland County Council and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), offers businesses in the county with support in reaching their full growth potential.

To find out more about the Programme and how it could help your business, call 01670 528403 or email northumberland@oxin.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .