Why no more bog standard leaves MacCarthy flushed with success

 UK-based MacCarthy Aviation has carved itself a niche in the aircraft interiors market over recent years, applying its expertise in VIP interiors to aircraft lavatory upgrades. 

“Refurbishing and upgrading aircraft lavatories is a speciality of ours, particularly for Airbus and Boeing aircraft,” said Phil Francis, sales and marketing director at MacCarthy. “Over the last 12 months we have upgraded business class and economy class lavatories for Air Astana, Brussels Airlines, Sri Lankan Airlines and Transaero for A330, A340, B737 and B767 aircraft and supplied uplift kits for numerous customers for A320 aircraft, particularly our Beresford range of Corian worktops.”

MacCarthy, which is celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year, is no stranger to the Middle East market. Having already made a name for itself with a number of VIP clients in the region, earlier this year it announced it had won a significant contract, worth in excess of £4 million, to supply lavatory upgrade kits and galley refurbishment kits to an unnamed Middle Eastern airline.

“The lavatory kits we are supplying underpins the significant investment our customer is making in upgrading their cabins for their fleet of more than 30 Airbus aircraft,” said Francis. “We won the contract on the back of exhibiting at Aircraft Interiors Expo 2012 in Hamburg, where we showcased a concept lavatory, so things have moved extremely quickly since then. 

“The kits include a new LED lighting package, Corian worktop with stainless steel sink, soft close toilet seat, floor pan and mat, faucet, amenity stowage basket and vanity cabinet door, which will be manufactured and kitted at our facility near Gatwick Airport, UK.”

Of course, lavatory upgrades are not the only string to MacCarthy’s bow.  The small British company, which employs around 96 staff and has an annual turnover in excess of £8 million, has built up an extensive repertoire in the aircraft interiors arena, including bespoke stowages, galleys, seats, bulkheads and VIP interiors.

“When Richard Branson launched Virgin Atlantic we manufactured the upper class bar, which was a first for transatlantic flights in first class,” explained Graham Hutchins, marketing manager at MacCarthy.

“Today we manufacture and repair infant cradles as well – that’s unique to us,” said Hutchins. “The baby cradles attach to the bulkhead of aircraft and our customers include Emirates, Qatar and Virgin.

“We are EASA Part 21 G & J approved, so that means we can design and manufacture aviation-related products, so we don’t have to get them designed elsewhere, we have the capabilities all in-house. We have Part 145 approval, so we are a maintenance and repair facility. Getting all those three approvals is no mean feat and we’re unique in that way, being a small company.

“We are a one-stop shop.”

Having built up a long list of capabilities and products, the company focus has shifted in the past couple of years and, as a result, MacCarthy has seen its business grow significantly.

“Our focus is on commercial airlines. It’s a bigger market, there are less people doing what we do and we’ve seen a real growth in our business,” said Hutchins.

“Over the years we’ve done a lot of VIP work, especially in the Middle East,” explained Francis. “We’ve done work for the Bahraini Royal Flight, Dubai Air Wing, Bahraini Defence Force VIP aircraft, Saudi Special Flight. We’re currently working with JorAMCo in Jordan on a project there, doing a major VIP upgrade on an A310 for a Middle Eastern customer, introducing new cabins and new bulkheads, and in-flight entertainment.

“But we took the view a couple of years ago that we needed to re-engage with the airline market, so now our balance is 80% airlines, 20% VIP, whereas two or three years ago it was the other way round.

“The way we’ve achieved that is by identifying that lavatory upgrades are a perennial requirement, because they need doing regularly, and we are very, very good at them.”

According to Francis, there are three things that travellers judge an aircraft on – the seat, the food and the bathroom. “Most airlines will put a massive effort into the seat and the general cabin environment, and they will put as much as they can afford into the food, and the IFE of course. Then the only thing left is the toilet, which has been overlooked quite a bit for some considerable time, but we’ve experienced quite a lot of interest in lavatory upgrades,” he said.

“We don’t just refurbish what’s there; we re-model the environment. We put in corian worktops, we put in LED lighting, we change the configuration, we change the facilities to make them nicer, we improve amenity stowages, we change the worktops and sinks.

“We deliver a really, really nice product that is remodelled rather than refurbished but within the confines of weight, space, flammability, functionality, and we are very successful at it because we keep winning projects for lavatories.”

As new aircraft models enter the marketplace and more airlines look to upgrade their fleets, MacCarthy’s success looks set to continue. 

“The future is looking quite good,” said Hutchins. “The Middle East is certainly a big area of opportunity for us. You see the likes of Qatar and Emirates upgrading their fleets and buying new aircraft. As the old aircraft become available, they all need work doing to them – that’s our market and that’s who we’re targeting so it’s a good time to be in this industry.”