Byline: Campbell Docherty
A Wawickshire design firm has benefited from the fall of Communism more than a decade after glasnost by being chosen to play a crucial role in the building of a luxurious, multi-million pound plane for Russian premier Vladimir Putin.
Automotive Trim, Design and Development, based in Nuneaton, has recently completed the five-figure contract for the internal design of the President's new Boeing 777, a custom-built sonic cruiser costing about pounds 200 million.
The company was one of nearly 300 specialists to work on the flying fortress, which is due to make its maiden flight in the next few weeks.
It fitted 30 luxury leather armchairs and 34 divan seats for the president's bedroom and various meeting rooms.
The company, based in the Bermuda Innovation Centre, has built a reputation over its five year history for flexibility so, despite mostly working with car manufacturers or Formula One teams, it was well able to work with the plane's design team and meet their unique requirements for the prestigious plane.
ATDD's managing director Lol Smith said: 'The preference was for light, earthy colours and every room had a different design to it.
'It was quite a complex job and we were given only three months to complete the order so that the plane could undergo test flights.
'This was a high-profile contract and we got it because people trust our work.'
The company hopes its work on the custom interior for the Presidential plane - an amazing feat of engineering as secure and technologically equipped as the Kremlin itself - could secure it many more aircraft contracts.
After ATDD's move last year to Bermuda Park, the pounds 1 million development built by Warwickshire County Council, sales have risen by 35 per cent.
'A West Midlands location was vital because of its automotive investment producing leather seating typically for Renault's Alpine sports models.
'Our business is prospering and the market seems buoyant. We see taking on more people as inevitable to support our major customers.'
The firm has recently been awarded quality accreditation ISO 9001.
The success of securing the Russian contract is also a feather in the cap for the innovation centre, the 16,000 sq ft development built on the site of a former open-cast mine in 1999.
Marion Bradford, the centre's manager, said: 'Bermuda Park offers occupiers an extremely high profile, which is increasingly sought by technology-related businesses.
'It is a prime example of how Warwickshire County Council has economic regeneration as one of its primary objectives.'
She added: 'It does not just restrict itself to the relative giants of industry - smaller, homegrown businesses have also been attracted.
'Bermuda Park is helping those companies to improve themselves so that they are better able to serve the needs of the region.
'To do this we had to create the right type of built environment allowing them to work in a centre of excellence with full business support.'
