Soaring profits lift family aviation firm

THE family company that designed and built Concorde's famous pointed nose has seen profits soar by more than 1,000%.

The boost is due to large contract wins, cost controls and an improved global economy.

Marshall of Cambridge, the car dealership and aviation design and engineering company, saw turnover in the year to December 2003 grow from £499m to £545m, while pre-tax profits shot up from £1.1m to £15m.

The company, one of the UK's largest privately owned concerns, was set up 95 years ago to chauffeur wealthy undergraduates. It was paid a shock £320,000 by a Hungarian businessman for the nose cone at an auction of Concorde parts in December last year.

Run by Michael Marshall, 72, grandson of the company's founder, its main businesses are the motor group and the aviation arm, which maintains the RAF's Hercules fleet.