Paris 2011: GKN set to harvest growth after investing in fallow years
When GKN Aerospace CEO Marcus Bryson ge

When GKN Aerospace CEO Marcus Bryson gets bullish about market conditions it is probably worth paying attention. He was quick to identify the full extent of the downturn triggered by the global financial crisis and has generally erred more toward the “glass-half-empty” view than seeing the glass as being half full. But, at a briefing ahead of this week’s Paris Air Show, he was adamant that the industry is back in growth mode and that GKN has positioned itself well to tap the fruits of growing demand.

Last year, which Bryson described as having been “good but not exceptional,” GKN won new contracts that will lead to more than $1.5 billion in new business. The new work includes a contract to make fuel tanks for the General Atomics Predator UAV and Eurocopter’s EC 135 helicopter, as well as for various Boeing 787 components for Japan’s Fuji Heavy Industries.