Adams Aviation recently held a reception for 100 personnel representing airframe and equipment manufacturers from Europe and North America as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations.

The company emerged in 1968 from the basement of a pub in the Hammersmith area of London, and has grown to become a well-respected distributor of parts and accessories in the general and business aviation sectors. Today it has an annual turnover of close to $43 million. CEO Stephen Gosling said at the event: "We are standing on the shoulders of giants in Ross and Dick Adams, my father Frank Gosling and Steve Langston, the leaders who got us here. I am enormously proud of my colleagues, not only those who face the customer and supplier every day but those that you never see, the phenomenal hidden talent behind the scenes.

"The largest part of my pride however comes from seeing who we work with and knowing that among our customers, our suppliers, our partners are the brightest and the best. We are not as clever as those of you who design aircraft or aerospace components. We just help the customer to find the way to get their aircraft in the air."