Sean explains: “We are an MRO, refurbishment and completion company specialising in business jet aircraft. The completion side is what we do with Bombardier on airplanes across its Global product line.” Flying Colours is a Bombardier Authorized Service facility, Bombardier Preferred Completion Centre, and GE Aviation approved service centre.

In addition to Bombardier’s Global Express and Challenger ranges, no strangers to their hangars are Dassault Falcon, Beechcraft/Hawker and Gulfstream models.

About half the business is termed ‘after-market’ – spanning MRO, refurbishment and modifications and the other half is completions. The completions team involves a particularly wide range of skills. It’s a long list: upholsters, cabinetry experts, finishers, metal workers, structural technicians, electrical installers, avionics technicians, engineers and paint specialists.

“Over the years, the projects just kept getting bigger and bigger, as our reputation grew. Then we began to add new locations. Most recently we added a European sales manager to the team,” says Eric.

A Global completion project can require anything from between 50,000 to 70,000 hours. That compares with a conversion project for a Bombardier CRJ airliner, which may take about 25,000 hours. While a refurbishment of an aircraft can take anywhere between 5–10,000 hours depending on the size of the project.

As well as aftermarket and various completions, the company also offers special mission conversions, including medevac installations, avionics, flight deck cabin management and in-flight entertainment system upgrades.

So, what benefits does a family business bring? Eric thinks it’s a big asset. “There are a lot of benefits, such as being a close-knit team and being able to strategise together.”

Loyalty is another advantage. “There’s a strong loyalty aspect to the family business,” says Eric. “We all grew up together and you know that you can trust that person going into the working environment. Also, we were all mentored by our father and have benefited from his strong perspectives on business.”

But working with your family can bring strains. “Seeing the family at work and then at family events means you’ve got to be able to separate the family side from the business,” says Eric. “It can be tough.”

“Special missions is an area we excel in”

Here’s where Beth, their mother, plays a role. While business conversations at family events are far from banned, beyond a certain point, they are not encouraged. “Mom’s very good at helping us keep off the subject of work at family gatherings.”

Both have their own families and actively encourage their children to enjoy the sports they enjoyed as boys – such as basketball, ice-hockey and baseball. “Between business and the children and travel, that takes up to 95% of the time,” says Eric.

Apart from the occasional summer job, both twins, who turned 40 years-old this year, have never worked anywhere apart from the family business. When they were growing up their father had a rule: “If you want to be in the company, you have got to learn the company.”

And that’s what they did. At first, when they were much younger, the extra money earned in jobs after school and during vacations was an attraction. But over the years, as they worked in successive departments – from purchasing to paint and all the other areas – their jobs became “training grounds”. They grew up embedded in the family business and eventually, at around high school-age, decided to make it their future.

From the beginning, their father John instilled the key importance of valuing people and teamwork. “All aviation business, and particularly ours, is people-driven,” says Eric. “It’s important to relate to colleagues and to understand what they go through to complete projects that may take many thousands of hours. My Dad always says: We are nothing without the team. That’s our mentality; something that’s ingrained in all staff.”

The family business feels like a family to the whole team, according to the brothers. Many of the 500-strong staff have worked for the company for 15 years or so and some of the senior members have worked with Flying Colours Corp. for more than 30 years.

Eric picks up the theme: “It feels like a family-owned business at all our facilities in Peterborough, St. Louis and now in Singapore. Most people working with us grew up in a family environment and they enjoy working in that type of atmosphere. We offer that while delivering a highly professional operation and service: you can do both. It’s a huge selling point – inside and outside the business.”

Asked about opportunities for the business, the twins are clear. “It’s about continuing to deliver value to our customers,” explains Eric. “We will continue to grow the completions side of the business. We have just opened a new paint shop here in Peterborough which is part of a new 100,000 square feet facility. The aftermarket work is growing steadily, as our reputation has become more widely known. Special missions is an area we excel in, and enjoy as it brings us the opportunity to maximise our design engineering and structural expertise. This is becoming increasingly important to the business and we see a lot of opportunity there too.”

In a little over 40 years, Flying Colours has grown from a modest paint business operating out of a hangar in Peterborough to a truly international business with a 500-strong workforce. Whatever opportunities and challenges lie ahead, Eric and Sean, together with father John and sisters Kate and Lisa and, of course, mother Beth, seem well placed to meet them. ■