Mirus Aircraft Seating has made three key appointments to strengthen its executive leadership team, brought in to support Mirus’ ambitious development plans as the aviation industry recovers following the pandemic. Marcus Williams joins as global sales & marketing director, Adam Challenor as technical director, and Lyndsay Whiteman as financial director.
Marcus Williams’ role is newly created and will see him lead Mirus’ international sales, marketing and aftersales teams to grow the company’s status in the international aircraft seating market. Williams has experience working in the interiors sector and has worked extensively with aircraft OEMs and airlines on the ground in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Before joining Mirus, he was global sales & marketing director at STG Aerospace, where he led their sales growth since 2013. Prior to this, Williams held sales management positions with Crane Aerospace and GE Aviation.
“Our objective is to dramatically grow the business over the next five years, expanding into new markets and broadening the range of products we offer,” said Williams.
Technical director Adam Challenor joined Mirus in late 2021, responsible for the design, engineering and delivery of aircraft seats. He brings more than 25 years of engineering experience across both the aerospace and automotive sectors to the role. Challenor worked at automotive supplier Delphi for eight years, before joining Hendrickson, a global manufacturer of suspension systems and components to the commercial vehicle industry. Following this, he sought a new challenge and move into the aerospace industry as head of engineering at a subsidiary of Virgin Atlantic, after which he spent eight years at Acro Aircraft Seating as technical director.
“I was drawn to Mirus for its focus on innovation and supportive company culture. In my first few months, it’s already been made clear to me that Mirus is moving swiftly in the right direction, and I predict that the new aircraft testing facility will be a gamechanger for us later this year,” said Challenor, referring to the upcoming opening of the company’s on-site aircraft testing facility in Norfolk, expected to be the largest commercially available facility in the UK.
The third new role sees Lyndsay Whiteman, who joined Mirus in 2017 as financial controller, promoted to finance director. She brings more than 10 years’ experience in practice and commercial accounting, and leads the finance function and financial strategy for the Mirus Group.
“This year is already proving to be transformative for Mirus, as we firmly establish ourselves as a serious player in the aircraft seating market, said Ben McGuire, CEO of Mirus Aircraft Seating, explaining the need for the new roles. “We have already unveiled the latest evolution of our popular Hawk seat and will deliver the first shipset to the launch customer later this month, we will launch our highly anticipated ultra-lightweight fixed back economy seat the Kestrel at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, and in Q4 we will officially open our on-site aircraft testing facility.
“To help navigate our success and further growth, we’re proud to have strengthened our Executive Leadership Team with a talented trio of accomplished industry experts.”
McGuire, Williams and Challenor will be attending AIX 2022 in Hamburg next week (stand 1UB30), announcing the latest airline to install its Hawk seat and officially unveiling the Kestrel seat.
