HI Uplift: NHV plans consolidation and growth

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by Mike Stones
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Consolidation this year, growth next. That’s the plan set out by Lars-Henrik Thorngreen, CEO of NHV at our Helicopter Investor London conference last month.

Eight months into his second stint at the rotary services company, Thorngreen has a clear vision of the flight path ahead. Next year growth is planned in the form of further exploiting opportunities in wind generation, government services, maintenance, repair and overhaul organisations (MRO) and new markets.

This year the key tasks are: restructuring, making cost-base savings, focusing on customer centric management and developing the culture of the business. Company culture is key for the CEO. One of the things that persuaded him to rejoin the company – after serving between 2014 and 2018, culminating in the roles of MD and chief operating officer – was the culture of the business.

“I wanted to join NHV again because of the ethos, because of the culture. While a lot of things have changed – the legacy of what we are as a company is something that I really could stand by and stand behind,” he told our conference. (His wife’s recommendation was another reason to rejoin).

‘Close to the customer’

The fact many senior managers began their careers at NHV is a source of satisfaction for him. Some have worked for the company for more than 20 years giving the company a family feeling, he says. “We like to welcome eager young hungry people into our community because they push the rest of us towards being as close to the customer as possible and make us a bit risk willing with regards to where we go in the market. We have focused on being close to the customer since day one.”

Thorngreen admits the company may have lost a little customer focus over the past six years, but he is leading efforts to remedy that. “We are now revisiting the ability to be very close to the customer,” he said. “Brexit has changed the culture a bit and we’re now reversing it back to a real true what we call yellow [the company’s brand colour] culture so that is ongoing.”

While corporate mindsets bring benefits, it can prevent close working relationships with customers. “The long screwdriver approach is never good, so we want base managers who are pivotal in our setup, where the base manager is close to the customer, owns all assets, in principle has a P&L [profit and loss account] and as such is measured.”

‘Relying on the super-medium’

On his return to the company the CEO inherited a modern fleet. “We are configured with a fairly young fleet with the average age of helicopters below eight years old.” NHV was the launch customer for the Airbus H175 super-medium helicopter in 2014. “That decision is paying off now, as we are very much relying on the super-medium which turned out to be a very good strategic decision,” says Thorngreen.

The business structure at present is little changed from his departure in 2018. (But he has plans to change that). Oil and gas account for more than 50% of the company’s turnover with its primary market in the UK North Sea. The company is also active in the oil and gas market of West Africa.

But it’s a different offshore market now. The good news is terms and conditions in oil and gas market contracts are improving, he said. “Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen an increase in the average length of the oil and gas commitments contracts that we sign – up to seven years now with the possibility of extension.” That compares with the previous normal contract length of three, four or five years with the possibility of an extension. It’s a relief for NHV (and others) which always struggled with the relatively short duration of contracts compared with the scale of investment or the leasing needed to service the contract.

‘Longer contracts are very good’

“Longer contracts are a very good movement from an operator perspective, which makes it easier for us to manoeuvre the market and also attract financing,” says Thorngreen. “Financing in oil and gas has been a bit difficult, because most of the financiers have been diversifying out of the oil and gas and looking at the greener energy.”

Plus, it’s now clear in an age of geopolitical uncertainty and after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, economies will probably depend on oil and gas for longer than was expected some years ago.

In this time of turmoil, NHV is repositioning the company for growth next year. “lt’s an in between year for us,” says Thorngreen. “We are reorganising our strategy, our business plan and looking at our cost base.” Under scrutiny are NHV’s cost-based supporting services.

“We don’t, for example, often need flight data monitoring and similar things in the wind market, which then allows us not to bring those overheads into the wind market. It’s important for me to bring ownership.”

‘Fewer compliance requests’

Serving offshore wind generation is very much a growth market for NHV. While it’s a maturing segment with lower margins compared with oil and gas, the operational requirements differ in important ways. “The offshore wind market generally operates with a different cost structure and, to some extent, fewer compliance demands than traditional offshore oil and gas,” said Thorngreen. “This allows us to adapt our service model and avoid bringing in cost-heavy overheads that aren’t essential in that environment. It gives us more flexibility and scalability as the market grows.”

NHV is already active in this market and hungry to expand. “We’re slowly growing and establishing new contracts, hopefully in Belgium soon.”

Another key growth sector for the company is maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, which already generates significant revenue for the business. But he describes expansion in this area as being “a bit further out on the horizon”.

Re-entering former markets during 2026-2027 is also part of NHV’s growth plan – depending on tenders available. “So, we are looking at not only building our current footprint but also expanding the footprint – primarily Europe and West Africa.”

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HI Uplift Dashboard: Helicopters for sale

Multi engine

  • Total for sale/lease: 275 – one more than last week
  • Percentage for sale/lease: 3.65
  • Absorption rate: 4.08 months
  • Total fleet: 7,527 – one fewer than last week.

Single engine

  • Total for sale/lease: 435 – four more than last week
  • Percentage for sale/lease: 3.76
  • Absorption rate: 3.75 months
  • Total fleet: 11,580 – four fewer than last week.

 

 Source: AMSTAT, July 10th, 2025. 

 

Helicopter Investor London 2025

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