Best friends from the RAF to bring their £25m defense company to London

A defense engineering consultancy run by two best friends who served together in the RAF plans to float in London this month.

RC Fornax wants to raise at least £5 million and values ​​the company at £25 million, sources say.

The flotation will be a boost for the junior AIM market, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year but has been hit by inheritance tax changes in the Labor budget.

The company was founded in 2020 by CEO Paul Reeves, 41, and executive director Dan Clark, 40. “Dan and I are on the same page,” Reeves said. “We are best friends and we always will be until the day we die.”

Together they have more than 24 years of service in the armed forces.

The company works with leading defense companies to manage projects more efficiently.

Turnover last year was £6.5 million. It hopes to benefit from growth in defense spending amid rising global tensions.

The founders are also aware of the Ministry of Defense’s goal to focus a quarter of procurement expenditure on small and medium-sized businesses. Reeves hopes to form consortia with other small and medium-sized businesses to bid for MoD contracts.

He says the duo never considered a stock market listing in the US, which is often touted as a more lucrative location for floats.

‘I have always been passionate and will always be passionate about my country. It’s just not a question,” he said, adding that he and Clark have ruled out selling to private equity because they want to maintain control.

Proceeds from the fundraising will be used for development, including an AI tool to assist with project management.

Early backers of the company include Reeves’ 70-year-old mother, Jane Cartwright. “She sold the family home in Filey, North Yorkshire, to support us,” says Reeves.

‘It was our grandparents’ house where we went on holiday, so there were a lot of childhood memories.

“I told her not to sell it, but you can’t stop a mother from helping her children.”