The Antea Award 2019 for ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ has been awarded to Max Lutje Wooldrik, Founder & CEO of APOC Aviation in recognition of the Company’s outstanding performance in 2019. For innovative engine leasing & trading and aircraft component & part-out specialist, APOC Aviation, this is the perfect start to a new decade as the business is set to forge ahead with its significant growth plans and expand its global footprint.
Antea Participaties, an investment company focused on the Dutch SME sector. It is characterised by an entrepreneurial approach and concentrates on a high degree of operational freedom for the management of the companies in which it invests. Comments from the judging panel at the awards ceremony in The Hague include: “APOC showed a spectacular development in 2019 and can rightly be called the star of the Antea portfolio. Turnover doubled and the result (EBITDA) showed a growth of 150% ….. They exceeded their ambitious budget by 15% reinforcing their relationships with global airlines …..In the field of Corporate Social Responsibility APOC scores highly. The re-use of parts fits with the trend of a circular economy ….. Max Wooldrik has an important advantage over other nominees – unlike Buy-In or Buy-Out managers jumping on a moving train, he has built APOC Aviation from scratch in just 5 years.”
Although proud to receive this personal accolade, Wooldrik is keen to acknowledge the important role played by his team of aviation professionals. “APOC has ambitious plans and I share this award with a group of committed and exceptional people. This year we are looking to raise significant investment to fast-track growth.” He goes on to say that APOC Aviation is expanding its lease portfolio of engines, landing gear and APUs, upgrading its existing customer portal with one-click AOG logistical solutions, opening parts stores around the globe – starting in Asia and the US, and opening a new sales office in Singapore to complete its global footprint. “Our objective is to exceed US$100 million in revenue within the next 3 years.”
