Vertical Aerospace has strengthened its executive leadership team with the appointment of John Martin as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
John joins the company after a successful 30-year career in senior operational and financial management roles of large, international businesses and will take up his new role on February 20th.
His significant experience in strategic development and driving excellence in operational performance will allow him to provide unique support for Vertical’s Founder & CEO, Stephen Fitzpatrick, in scaling the company through certification and industrialisation.
The announcement follows the resignation of Vinny Casey as Vertical’s CFO, who will remain on the company’s Board as a non-executive director but returns to OVO Energy, the independent UK energy supplier also founded by Fitzpatrick.
Michael Cervenka has stepped down from the Board, effective immediately, and has a new role in the business as Chief Technology Officer. He will be focused on building Vertical’s future engineering and technology pipelines, as well as continuing to lead strategic supply chain partner activities.
Fitzpatrick said: “I am delighted to welcome John to Vertical Aerospace. His experience leading public companies will be critical as we scale Vertical both to certification and industrialisation.
“John’s appointment further strengthens Vertical’s executive team to deliver the VX4 into entry into service and beyond. I would also like to thank Vinny Casey for his commitment to Vertical and look forward to continuing working with him on the Vertical Board.”
Before joining Vertical, John contributed significantly to building profitability and generating shareholder value for several prominent businesses, helping transform them into high-growth market leaders, including FTSE 100 Ferguson plc (formerly Wolseley plc), FTSE 250 Hays plc and the private Travelex Group.
He is a Chartered Accountant and earlier in his career was Group Controller of The Stationary Office Group upon its privatisation in 1996, having earlier spent nine years at Arthur Andersen. John also served briefly as Chair of Countryside Properties plc. John currently serves as an independent non-executive director of Ocado Group plc, a market leading technology and robotics business, and member of the FTSE 100.
Commenting on his appointment, John said: “I am delighted to be joining such an innovative and exciting company at this time. The experience that Vertical Aerospace has brought to the challenge of zero operating emissions urban air mobility is truly remarkable and I am really looking forward to supporting this world-class team in achieving its mission and building the future of sustainable aviation.”
Earlier this month, Vertical announced that Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation had become its first customer in Asia to make a pre-delivery payment for its VX4 aircraft. It has reserved delivery slots for 25 of up to 200 conditional pre-orders and the move further strengthens Japan’s potential as a launch market for Advanced Air Mobility.