London Biggin Hill Airport receives £15m development investment

London Biggin Hill Airport has agreed a £15 million finance package with HSBC to fund the construction of an additional 140,000 sq ft office, hangar and business aircraft parking facility and the development of a 50-bed four star hotel.

The new infrastructure projects will meet steadily growing demand for visiting aircraft and access to the airport’s many world-class aerospace businesses. They will also contribute towards the ambitious employment targets of 2,300 new jobs by 2030 set by the airport and the London Borough of Bromley.

London Biggin Hill, which celebrates its centenary year in 2017, is established as a major centre for engineering and aerospace innovation and in recent months has welcomed the arrival of Bombardier Business Aircraft who has established a brand new state-of-the-art maintenance facility.

Will Curtis, Managing Director at London Biggin Hill Airport said: “With the support of our corporate finance advisors at Smith & Williamson, we went through a rigorous selection process to make sure we had the right partner in place to help fund the next stage in our development. HSBC understood our business model and were genuinely supportive of our plans, backed by a competitive and flexible package.

“Completing the deal with HSBC enables us to fulfill the next stage of our development strategy for further enhancing Biggin Hill’s reputation as the gateway to London and the City for business aviation. Building on the success of the HSBC deal, Biggin Hill is introducing extended operating hours in the coming weeks which will provide our customers and users with unrivalled flexibility and capacity.”

James Shepherd, Area Director in HSBC’s Corporate Banking team, commented: “London Biggin Hill Airport is an ambitious business with plans to build more hangar capacity and house internationally recognised engineering and maintenance companies. Our experience funding significant development projects like this one helped us put a competitive and flexible finance package in place that has enable work to start at the airport straight away. We look forward to watching the project as it progresses and continuing our relationship with the airport team.”

Smith & Williamson, the airport’s longstanding financial advisory partner, introduced by HSBC to the airport company and project managed the transaction on their behalf.