Aerelink MD Named as the Institute of Directors Cheshire Young Director of the Year 

Steve Swift, managing director of Aerelink, has been named the Institute of Directors’ (IoD) Cheshire Young Director of the Year.

Widnes-based Aerelink is the UK's foremost IP networking solutions provider, specialising in wireless communication. Under Steve’s direction, the company has experienced a 108 per cent increase in sales in 2010 thanks in part to its recent acquisition of Rapier Systems Ltd. In the second quarter of this year, Aerelink saw a 79 per cent increase in sales, following on from 29 per cent growth in the first quarter.

Steve, who left school at 16 to become an apprentice, won the IoD’s Young Director of the Year for Liverpool and Merseyside in 2007, and more recently Aerelink received prestigious national accolade the Queens Award for Enterprise in 2009.

Steve also serves as a non-executive director for The Knowsley Chamber of Commerce and Halton Enterprise Board and is an active advocate of the Intelligent Community Forum, a think tank based in New York.

“I like to think that Aerelink’s success is as much about a rewarding and motivating company culture as about sales figures,” says Steve. “Successful companies invest properly in their team, and that’s what we’ve tried to do at Aerelink, with team spirit being a firm component of our culture and infrastructure – including during recession.”

The IoD awards took into account the company’s performance over the last three years, followed by an interview.

Ann Jordan, regional chair for the IoD in the North West, said: “It’s still a tough economic environment, and the calibre of businesses and individual directors in this year’s shortlist were great examples of the type of businesses that are driving the recovery, not only in this region, but across the UK and further abroad.”