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Military jet developer Aeralis has officially opened its new enterprise hub offices at Bristol’s Aztec West Business Park.

The manufacturing start-up is currently developing a modular aircraft design for the Royal Air Force (RAF) and hopes to deliver the first fully British-crewed military jet since the 1970s.

The British firm said its new 5,607sq ft base on the Almondsbury site would house up to 40 staff “with room for continuous expansion” as the company grows.

Aeralis said it had established relationships with numerous organisations within Bristol’s “thriving” defence and aerospace sector, including the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Atkins, and Rolls-Royce.

Filton and Bradley Stoke MP Jack Lopresti visited the new office as part of the opening, taking a tour of a collaborative design engineering space and demonstrating the company’s virtual reality flight simulator.

Mr Lopresti also heard from the firm’s senior leadership about its ambitions to be at the forefront of the military aviation industry and that it is “well placed” to access a more than £80bn export market for defence light jet aviation.

Aeralis founder and chief executive Tristan Crawford said the company was pleased to receive the politician's support, as it seeks to build its presence in the area and create “a range of jobs within the local community”.

Mr Crawford said: “The opening of the Enterprise Hub marks a significant milestone in our development as a company, as it will allow us to accommodate our programme team together with our engineering team and our partners in the region to expand on the development of our innovative modular jet.”