Aviation specialist DEA secures multi-million pound export finance package
Summary
DEA now employs over 200 people worldwide, most of whom are highly-skilled engineers, pilots, sensor operators, systems architects and software developers operating from accredited facilities in Nottinghamshire.The funding has been secured thanks in part to a UK Export Finance (UKEF) guarantee issued under its Export Development Guarantee (EDG) product. This allows DEA to access a \xa316.5 million Santander UK facility which unlocks substantial new funding and replaces existing term loans. The EDG scheme helps companies who export or plan to export from the UK access high-value loan facilities, allowing businesses to access \xa33.3 billion in the last financial year alone.DEA expects to use the additional growth funding to create jobs and to increase capacity and capability investment to meet customer demand in its complex and growing end-user markets across the UK, Europe and beyond.Joanna Allen, CFO of the DEA Group, said:We are pleased to have been supported by Santander UK and UKEF in this refinancing as the group enters its next phase of growth. The funding recognises that DEA is a substantial exporter and will enable the company to continue to expand its services internationally where we have built a strong reputation with prestige customers in Europe and beyond.We are delighted to further increase our banking support to DEA with this increased facility supported by UK Export Finance. Our newly-announced support for DEA shows how UKEF, working alongside financial institutions like Santander UK, is enabling more and more SMEs to reach new heights in their export growth.