Aerospace Bristol appoints first COO to drive ambitious growth strategy

Aerospace Bristol has appointed Lloyd Hughes as its first ever chief operating officer (COO), marking a significant milestone in the museum's development as it pursues its ambitious ten-year strategy to double visitor numbers and grow its commercial operations.

The newly created COO position reflects Aerospace Bristol’s determination to build a sustainable, high-performing organisation that can invest in its collections, its people, and its community for the long term.

Hughes joins from the PDSA, where he served as Director of PDSA Trading and Head of Retail and Buying, and possess an array of commercial leadership experience across national and international retail and charity trading. His career has taken him from shop floor to boardroom across some of the UK's most recognisable retail environments, before moving into the charity sector where he has led a broad range of commercial activities at organisations including English Heritage amongst others.

In his new role, Hughes will take responsibility for the day-to-day running of Aerospace Bristol's Filton site, leading the museum’s visitor experience, finance, commercial, and operations functions. He will play a central role in delivering and evolving the museum’s commercial strategy – driving revenue growth across events and venue hire, ticket sales, retail, and hospitality – as well as deputising for the chief executive and representing Aerospace Bristol at key industry and networking events.

Lloyd Hughes, chief operating officer, Aerospace Bristol, said: "Aerospace Bristol is an extraordinary place - one that sits at the heart of a globally significant industry and tells stories about the wonders of flight to inspire people of all ages.

“I'm hugely excited to be joining at such a pivotal moment - there is enormous potential to grow both the commercial reach and resilience of the museum, and I'm looking forward to working with the brilliant team here to unlock it."

Sally Cordwell, chief executive, Aerospace Bristol, said: "This is a landmark appointment for Aerospace Bristol. Lloyd brings exactly the blend of commercial sharpness and charity sector understanding that we need as we look to deliver on our ten-year growth strategy. Creating this COO role signals our intent – we are serious about being an organisation that is operationally excellent, commercially strong, and well positioned to serve our visitors, our community, and the story of flight for decades to come. We're delighted to welcome Lloyd into our team.”