Oxford agency awarded drone operator’s licence renewal

It means Fortitude remains fully certified and insured to operate drones to film for commercial purposes. Our authorisation and insurance enable us to operate a drone both in the daylight and at night-time. 

Demand for our aerial video and photographic services has remained strong since we launched the service in 2020. The offering complements our core video production services and wider communications support including PR, social media, content creation and marketing. 

Peace of mind 

Ever-shifting legislation around the use of drones currently means a drone weighing less than 250g can be used by video-production companies without training and without CAA approval, though heavier drones do still require certification for commercial work.

Fortitude has both a small drone and a larger drone. However, we have invested in renewing our licence in the interests of best practice, health and safety and to provide peace of mind to our drone operator and our clients. 

Drone best practice 

Greig Box Turnbull, Fortitude director, said: ​“Many drone operators in the market are now only using 249g machines to save the costs associated with being licensed. We opted to maintain our licence and insurance to ensure we continue to operate to the highest standards of safety and professionalism. We believe this will provide important reassurance for our clients who commission us to provide aerial video and photography services. 

“The content we have been capturing using drones has been fantastic and adds a brilliant dynamic to the videos we produce for clients. I’d encourage businesses who are considering to having video content produced to think about factoring in drone footage to add the wow factor.” 

Thom Airs, Fortitude’s CAA-approved drone operator, said: ​“We felt it was imperative we invested in maintaining our licence, despite the opportunity to operate without one legally. Minimising risk while maximising creativity remains a central part of being a successful drone operator and so we remain committed to constantly staying abreast of best-practice. We greatly value the advice and governance of the Civil Aviation Authority who rightly treat drone pilots like pilots flying full-sized aircraft.”

Read how Thom became a qualified drone pilot via the rigorous training course he completed here.

Get in touch 

If you would like to have a chat about how drone aerial video and drone aerial photography could help you please get in touch here.