Citywealth Leaders List interview: 60 seconds with Tim Barber, Duncan Aviation

Date: 12 Feb 2025

Karen Jones

This week’s 60-second piece is dedicated to Tim Barber, Aircraft Sales and Acquisitions at Duncan Aviation.

Tell Citywealth readers a bit about your role.

I buy and sell business jets for clients across the globe, working with Duncan Aviation, the world’s largest family MRO (maintenance repair and overhaul) business. We’ve undertaken close to 4000 transactions, having started out as an aircraft sales business in 1956.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I’m fortunate in that there is no such thing as a typical day but one day I could be visiting a Family Offices in London, Zurich, Dubai or the Channel Islands, or indeed anywhere else and the next day looking at a G650ER on the apron at an airport. I travel extensively visiting clients, prospects and attending networking events, both in the UHNW advisory sector and business aviation. Most of my leads these days come from UHNW advisors.

Tell us about some recent, interesting client instructions/requests you have received.

On New Year’s Day I was emailed a signed mandate to purchase a Bombardier Global 6000, so that was a fantastic way to start the year. Since then I have found myself speaking with multiple prospective customers regarding a number of sales and acquisitions projects, so if 25% of these come to fruition I’ll not be getting bored over the coming months. Going back a couple of years I had an amazingly busy run where I was selling or buying a jet every month for most of the year. These deals included a Boeing BBJ2 sale, a G450 purchase as well as 4 Legacy 600s and the sale of a Phenom 300, which was the smallest aircraft handled during that period. There were a number of other sales too, so it was very busy, particularly when you are dealing with parties on the west coast of the US and in Asia.

What challenges do your clients face and how are you helping your clients to overcome them?

One of the biggest challenges they face is whether they appoint a professional adviser or go it alone. There are so many people purporting to be professional brokers, so it’s easy to be taken in by a glossy website. As a founding member of IADA, the International Aircraft Dealers Association, we’d always recommend their website as a  great place to start.

Then there’s the decision on which aircraft to choose – under specify and the aircraft may not be able to undertake the routes that you wish to fly but over specify and the costs soon spiral out of control. All too often some buyer’s make a mistake by choosing the wrong aircraft and then have a poor ownership experience.

During the pandemic there was a rush to buy business jets and some buyers secured purchases that they soon regretted and ultimately paid the price of having poor or no support for their transaction.

What is your proudest professional achievement?

That’s a tough question because I feel very proud every time I secure a sales or acquisition mandate for the company. I feel proud when the deal concludes and we have another satisfied customer. It’s also very satisfying when clients come back for repeat transactions. Over the years I’ve earned a variety of awards both individually and for the company but the accolades that I am proudest of are winning the Corporate Jet Investor “Dealmaker of the year” award and also being recognized a Top Recommended Advisor by Spear’s and appearing in the Spear’s 500.

What do you consider to be the most important attributes for a leader?

Having run some fairly large businesses and sat on the Board of a PLC, upon joining Duncan Aviation I was astonished by what I learned. The Duncan Family have achieved something very, very special in the way that they motivate their team. The loyalty engendered is unbelievable and perhaps best illustrated by the Silver Wings Club which rewards employees who have served for 25 years. I’m not sure of the number but the figures are well in excess of 600 at the last count.

Who do you most admire and why?

Can I skip this one please?

Where was the last place you travelled to for work or pleasure?

I was in Dubai just before Christmas on business and would normally have been travelling a few times during January and February but a course of radiotherapy requires me to be in Bristol through until 21^st February. Can I urge all men to get their PSA checked? Prostate cancer is now the most common in the UK and I had a prostatectomy in 2020 which was only diagnosed through regular testing.

Last year I was in Switzerland, Monaco, USA, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, France, Spain, Turkey and so on for business, with many return trips to most locations. This year it has, by necessity, been a UK centric January and February.

If you weren’t in this industry, what else might you be doing?

I’m old enough to retire but I love what I do. There is no industry that I’d prefer to be in and I enjoy the travelling, people, networking, technological advancements and so on.

How do you relax after a long day?

I enjoy travelling, playing tennis and driving my Caterham 7. I’ve 3 daughters and a wife who keep me busy and a couple of years ago I decided to take up the guitar. I don’t have a musical bone in my body and it’s with regret that I didn’t take up an instrument when my daughters were learning ……but I didn’t!