About Nyras
Nyras is recognised as one of the world’s foremost investment and business advisory companies dedicated to the international air transport, travel and tourism industries.
The company’s headquarters are in the UK with representatives in Australia, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Italy, USA, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Nyras performs on a global scale, advising airlines, infrastructure operators, suppliers, financial institutions and industry investors.
A truly 21st Century enterprise, Nyras was founded in 2003 by Richard Davey, the former Global Aviation Leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers, as a global business advisory organisation focused on providing solutions to the aviation industry and related business sectors. The company is authorised by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) to conduct investment business, including mergers and acquisitions.
Nyras brings together the right blend of professional skills in an expert, no-nonsense approach to client issues including problem diagnosis, competitive innovation, business reform/ transformation, strategic direction and bottom line improvement.
Nyras has grown steadily since inception and acquired new City of London premises in 2009.
Richard Davey Chief Executive Officer
Before founding Nyras, Richard Davey was Global Aviation Leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), responsible for a US$350 million business consultancy operation covering all aspects of the international air transport and travel industries. With PwC, Richard planned and implemented major strategic change and developed new business models for the aviation industry. Over a 20-year career in the aviation industry, he has gained a reputation for shrewd business insight, in-depth knowledge of airline merger processes, knowledge of what it takes to implement change, and a profound commitment to achieving results.
Richard personally led the majority of our assignments since the organisation’s inception. These assignments are normally carried out on behalf of the CEO and range from significant restructuring assignments through to advising on transactions. Richard has acted as the industry adviser on the Amadeus transaction, led a major revenue enhancement and cost reduction assignment at Qantas, conducted a review of British Airways for the BA Pension Fund Trustees, developed strategic options and restructuring solutions for a number of European airlines, advised on and developed implementation plans for mergers between airlines, led the strategic review and sale of GB Airways to easyJet, and was the advisor to Hochtief AirPort on the potential acquisition of Gatwick Airport. He has advised and worked with a wide range of carriers, such as British Airways, Alitalia, Etihad, KLM, Iberia, SAS, SWISS, and Finnair, as well as a number of airport groups, aviation services companies and private equity houses. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Manchester University and an MBA from London Business School.
Derek Stevens Chairman
A senior air transport industry figure, Derek Stevens is most notable for his role as Chief Financial Officer of British Airways Plc between 1989 and 2001, a period of sustained high profitability for the airline. With BA, Derek worked in partnership with three successive Chief Executives, Sir Colin (now Lord) Marshall; Robert Ayling and Sir Rod Eddington. He served as the airline’s nominee on the boards of Galileo International and US Airways. Derek was also a prominent member of the IATA Financial Committee. Before joining BA, he was Finance Director of the TSB Group and had previously held senior posts with Shell International, PA Consulting and United Dominion Trust.
More recently, Derek has served as Chairman of the Airline Group, the consortium of airlines which holds a controlling stake in NATS, the UK’s air navigation service provider, and sat on the main NATS board. He has been a non-executive director of Aviva Plc, the insurance, long-term savings and fund management group, and chair of The Travel Foundation, a sustainable travel charity.
In addition to his position with Nyras, he chairs the board of the Aviva Staff Pension Scheme and the Investment Committee of the Rothschild Pension Scheme, and is Deputy Chair of Council at the Institute of Education, London University.
A qualified accountant, Derek holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.
Larry Stanley Vice Chairman
A former Group Chief Executive of Aer Lingus, Larry Stanley has had a long and distinguished career in the aviation industry.Larry was notably responsible for drawing up the highly sucessful Aer Lingus Survival Plan of 2001 He also led the Irish carrier into full membership of the global oneworld alliance. Prior to his CEO appointment Larry headed the airlines profitable Subsidiaries division and served as chairman of its maintenance, travel, hotel and other subsidiaries. He is also a former Chief Executive of Bahamasair.
Larry joined NYRAS as Vice Chairman following his retirement from Aer Lingus in 2002. In addition to his role with NYRAS, Larry serves as a non-executive Board Member of Aer Arann, the Irish regional airline. Larry holds degrees in Business Studies and Arts from Trinity College, Dublin.
David Huttner Senior Vice President
Former Virgin Blue Airlines director, David Huttner, joined Nyras as Senior Vice President with special responsibilities for business development and project management in April 2010.
A US citizen currently based in Belgium, David founded Planely Spoken, an aviation and tourism consultancy in 2005, following his career with the Virgin Group. The activities of Planely Spoken are now integrated with the expanded Nyras organisation.
David had previously spent nine years with the Virgin Group, initially with Virgin Express in Europe and latterly with Virgin Blue in Australia where he was one of the original founders of the airline and a member of its executive team.
After graduating from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, in 1988, he began working life in the maritime and fuel industries, serving with a number of major companies in the US and the United Arab Emirates.
David joined Virgin Express in Brussels in 1996 as an MBA intern (gaining his degree at INSEAD in France) and rose through various positions to become Deputy Director of Sales & Marketing.
In 2000, he was appointed Head of Commercial for Virgin Blue, becoming one of the three founding officers of the Virgin Group’s new Australian venture. He went on to lead strategy and communications and, subsequently, international development for the carrier,
With his Planely Spoken business, David has undertaken business consultancy projects for a range of major aviation industry clients, including Navitaire, Macquarie Airports, Jersey Airports, Vueling Airlines, Virgin Group and Oman Airports. Planely Spoken has also been commissioned to work on aviation issues for the IFC (World Bank Group).
At the same time, David has become well known as an accomplished chairman, panel moderator and guest speaker at numerous global aviation and travel industry conferences.
Iain May Senior Vice President
Former Chief Executive of the Bland Group travel and transportation conglomerate, Iain May was appointed Senior Vice President in August 2011, having joined Nyras as a Senior Associate in April 2010.
He had previously served as Chief Financial Officer for GB Airways before it was sold to easyJet by the Bland Group in January 2008.
Iain qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant with BAA plc, the airport operator, where he worked as a finance trainee for three years from 1986 to 1989. After a period working as Finance Director in the advertising and public relations industry, he joined Air 2000, part of the First Choice Holidays group, in 1996 as Head of Financial Management.
Four years later, after his involvement in the due diligence resulting in the acquisition of Unijet Group by First Choice, Iain was appointed Finance Director for Unijet, the tour operator and budget air travel retailer, with responsibility for brand and business integration.
He was named Finance Director for First Choice Airways (Air 2000) in 2001. By then the carrier was operating a fleet of 32 aircraft fleet with an annual turnover £600 million.
In 2004, Iain was recruited by the Kuwait-based, start-up airline, Jazeera Airways, as Vice President Finance & Chief Financial Officer; and was, in fact, the new low cost carrier’s first employee. In addition to creating Jazeera’s formative 5-year business plan, he led negotiations to acquire and finance four Airbus A320s (with options on a further four) together with engines from CFM. (This achievement won the Air Finance Journal ‘Most Innovative Deal of the Year’ award).
Iain left Kuwait in late 2005 to become Chief Financial Officer for GB Airways, the British Airways franchise partner operating intra-Europe services from bases at Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester with a fleet of 16 aircraft. Upon joining GB, he initiated and implemented a successful profit improvement plan across the entire business. Iain was a key member of the senior management team which worked with Nyras, as external business advisor, in securing the successful, £103.5 million sale of GB Airways to easyJet in 2008.
Following disposal of the airline, Iain continued to serve the Bland Group as CEO until March 2010.
Guido Ruther Senior Vice President
Prior to joining Nyras, Guido Ruther was Vice President, Revenue Management, Pricing and Global Distribution for Swiss International Air Lines. He had previously worked for more than 20 years in the top management echelons of Swissair. Guido is currently serving as Vice-President, Network Management and Alliances for Royal Jordanian Airlines on secondment from Nyras..
His special expertise in revenue management, pricing, global distribution systems, business change management, alliance integration and advanced IT application has benefited many Nyras clients. Guido is a respected industry speaker on revenue managements concept and strategies. He holds an MSc in Electronics & Informationation Technology from the University of Zurich; and an Executive MBA from IMD, Lausanne.
Yen Sung Director
A founding partner of Nyras, alongside Richard Davey, Yen Sung was previously a senior manager with the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Global Aviation Practice. Yen has led and managed a number of projects for Nyras involving commercial and operational due diligence, corporate-wide business improvement reviews, business restructuring in support of airline transactions and vendor due diligence management and support. Her other consulting experience is in strategic and operational change; performance management; business efficiency; market analysis; business and investment plan development; and new venture development. She has worked for clients such as British Airways, Qantas, SWISS, Alitalia, GB Airways, Malev, SR Technic, Volare, British Midland, Eastern Airways, Lockheed, BAA, Schiphol Airport and AENA, and has also provided support to funding institutions and private equity houses interested in the aviation sector.
Before joining PwC, she was a strategy consultant with Coopers & Lybrand, working in the aviation, general transportation, energy and investment banking sectors. She began her career as a Chartered Civil Engineer. Yen holds a BEng (Hons) degree in civil engineering from the University of Liverpool; and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management. She is fluent in conversational Mandarin and Cantonese.
David Priseman Chief Financial Officer
In addition to his role as CFO, David Priseman provides corporate finance advice on all Nyras business activities and assignments. He began his career as an economist for a transport consultancy before leaving to study full time for an MBA. He then moved abroad and has more than 13 years international banking experience from previous positions with Banque Paribas and Deutsche Bank in Paris, London and Geneva. During this time, he worked firstly in corporate banking then fund management before gaining particular experience working on behalf of Middle Eastern clients in the fields of wealth management, corporate banking and investment banking.
Before being recruited to Nyras, David worked as an independent banking advisor in the small-and-medium-size (SME) business sector, working with both UK and Middle East companies. He advised and raised capital for family businesses and private equity firms and also took responsibility for investor relations on behalf of a number of clients. David holds a BA (Hons) in Business Studies from Sheffield University; an MA in Transport Economics from Leeds University; and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management.