Huge jobs boost for Coventry maker of world-first driverless vehicles

A Coventry firm at the forefront of driverless vehicle technology is set to take its global workforce beyond 100 for the first time. Aurrigo, based at Bilton Industrial Estate in Humber Avenue, enjoyed a hugely profitable 2023 with revenues reaching £5.3m for the year thanks in part to contracts it has signed to roll out its driverless products around the world.

As a result, the company behind the driverless Auto-Pod and a new autonomous luggage/cargo dolly for aviation is looking to create around 25 roles to add to its current workforce of 78. Central to Aurrigo’s growth has been its transitioning from private ownership to public, or Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The firm’s lucrative partnership with Changi Airport in Singapore is also said to be a driving force behind its expansion. CEO David Keene said: “We delivered an exciting year of progress in 2022 with the IPO, fundraising and partnership agreement with Changi Airport Group laying the foundations for future growth.

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“Since joining AIM, we have scaled our team, developed new vehicles and are now rapidly building a leadership position in autonomous aviation solutions. The momentum of 2022 has continued into 2023.

“We are now demonstrating and proving our autonomous aviation products on the ground, which we believe will translate into new long-term partnerships.” The company, founded by David and his brother Graham 30 years ago, successfully raised £8 million in the IPO last September.

It will be using that financial backing to roll-out its industry-leading transport technology in the UK, Europe, North America and Asia. More than 30 jobs have already been created since the listing, with a fresh recruitment drive just beginning to take shape at its Coventry Advanced Engineering Centre and international offices.

There has been significant progress in all areas of the business since the IPO, with continued investment in research and development helping to bring to market the firm’s Auto-Dolly Mk3 and Auto-Dolly Tug, vehicles which can help ferry around luggage without the need for a driver. Both are currently being tested airside at Changi Airport as the aviation sector explores new ways in which it can become more efficient commercially and environmentally.

Aurrigo’s vehicles are designed to reduce baggage and cargo loading and unloading times, improve movement efficiencies around the airport and boost health and safety by eliminating a lot of manual operations. That both are electric powered, and could replace old fleets of diesel-fuelled tugs, is seen as a ‘big green positive’.

David added: “Agreeing the Changi Airport partnership is a real gamechanger. It gives us the chance to showcase our technology at one of the busiest airports in the world, proving its effectiveness to CAG and other visiting global airport groups and stakeholders.

“This is an international opportunity, but it is also very important news for the West Midlands. We have created nearly 30 new jobs since the IPO, with a large proportion of them in Coventry.

“Over 125 years on from when the first British motorcar was built in Coventry, Aurrigo International plc is in a perfect position to put the city on the global map again, this time when it comes to autonomous vehicles and their increasingly varied application.”

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