Aster Airservices is relocating its jet fuel resale business from Switzerland to Dubai. Just before packing up his bags – the company should be up and running by September – md Andre Sterchi explained his reasons for moving.

“We’ve been thinking of expanding the business for a while,” he said, “and the economic climate is pretty bad in Switzerland at the moment and getting worse. For big companies, it’s okay but if you’re a small to midsized business and you want to expand, you need fresh capital.

“Any capital you want in Switzerland at the moment, the bank wants 100 per cent sureties so if you’re asking for £500,000, you have to bring £500,000 in secured loans – which pretty much defeats the object of going to the bank.”

Sterchi, who was born in Sri Lanka, spent the early part of his career with Esso before setting up his own business in Switzerland.

He has been supplying fuel to business aviation operators since 1999 and says by relocating to Dubai, he can keep his old customers and also make some new ones.

“The trade I have in Switzerland and elsewhere will remain but I will also have the chance of new opportunities to expand.

“If you look at what has been happening in the Middle East in the past couple of years, with Bexair in Bahrain and Royal Jet in Abu Dhabi, they are now indirectly competing with the likes of the big jet management companies in Europe.

“It’s a miniscule amount that they’re taking from the established companies but they are still on the right track.”

Another reason Sterchi is keen to move to Dubai is because of the tax freedom. He says that even when you’re doing well in Switzerland, you have to remember that a big tax bill is going to hit you at the end of the year – including a company tax bill, private tax bill and a compulsory old age pension.

“The major factor in any relocation,” he said, “involves what you are offered by the national government. And in Dubai, the cost structure is very transparent and offers good incentives for new businesses, especially at DAFZA (Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority) where Aster Airservices will be located.

“What’s more, Dubai has a very big educated workforce and you don’t have to pay the sort of wages that staff command in Switzerland. The salaries that you have to pay in Switzerland are not nearly what you get in return for quality from a lot of employees here.”