Philip Smart | Adelaide

Quickstep Holdings will reduce its workforce by 12, cap research and development investment and freeze executive pay, in a “refocusing” plan announced by new CEO and Managing Director Mark Burgess to accelerate profitability and growth.

Burgess, who joined Quickstep in May this year, launched a three-month strategy and operational review with the executive management team and company board, the results of which were announced to the market on August 1.

We have implemented an executive pay freeze and will continue with the freeze on directors’ fees

“We have simplified our senior leadership structure, reducing the number of key management personnel, and have established a functional matrix organisation,” he said. “We have implemented an executive pay freeze and will continue with the freeze on directors’ fees. The OneQuickstep change management program, which we are rolling out, will see the removal of business segments and a strong focus on growth in our target market sectors.”

Under the plan Quickstep will cap research and development investment at $2.8 million for financial year 2018, reduce full time employees by 12 across the first half of the year and eventually cease non-core programs such as the glass-fibre products used in the Thales Hawkei vehicle project, to concentrate on the growing Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) aerospace composites market.

Quickstep already has a strong presence in aerospace composites, with long term contracts in place with major customers such as Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.

The company has created a sales leader role on its executive team and beefed up its marketing and communications functions.

Quickstep will focus on rapid commercialisation of its in-house core technologies, such as the Qure fast curing composites technology and Quickstep Production System (QPS), and on market specific technologies and manufacturing partnerships.

“The outlook for Quickstep in the future is strong,” Burgess said. “We have solid, long-term contracts in place, continued JSF production growth and a strong defence aerospace ‘build to print’ outlook.

“We will be placing an increased focus on the aerospace secondary structures market (control surfaces and closure systems) and will look closely at all customer cost reduction opportunities, using Qure and QPS to address volume production constraints that exist with current technologies.”

The announcement came one day after Quickstep confirmed it had delivered its 100th shipset of wing flaps for the C-130J Hercules transport aircraft under its long term contract with Lockheed Martin.