New jobs to boost innovation

Product development firm Cambridge Consultants today announced it is creating 50 new jobs in 2013. Having grown year on year over the past decade, the company is now accelerating its expansion – with plans to double its 380-strong UK and US workforce over the next four years. The firm is also expanding into the Asian market, with the opening of an office in Singapore.

Alan Richardson, CEO of Cambridge Consultants, said: “Our reaction to the global recession was to invest in new talent and our facilities so that we can deliver more solutions faster for our customers. Our growing success is testament to that approach, with orders at an unprecedented level. So we now feel the climate is ripe to accelerate the growth of our business – and we’re on the lookout for ambitious engineers, scientists, mathematicians and designers to join us as we expand.

“Last year we created 35 new jobs and promoted more than 40 people – and we’re now looking to add a further 50 posts during 2013. Each year we work on more than 300 different projects so, whatever your area of expertise, we can provide the platform for your ambitions.”

The majority of the new jobs are in the UK– and they include positions in business development, and project and commercial management, as well as jobs for software and mechanical engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians and physicists. Jobs on offer at the company’s US office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, are focused on the development of medical technology – particularly drug delivery, surgical and diagnostic devices.

In its 53-year history Cambridge Consultants has been involved in a range of breakthrough products and technologies. The company’s work for both large multinationals and early-stage start-ups can be seen everywhere – from the round tea bag you use to make your morning beverage, to the ground-to-air radio system used to control air traffic over the majority of the planet; and from the Bluetooth chip in your mobile phone to the ultra-low-cost optoelectronics in one of the world’s most successful pregnancy testing kits. To date, some 20 businesses have spun out from Cambridge Consultants since 1975 – including CSR, Xaar, Domino and Inca Digital.

Gemma Holbrow, a senior engineer who joined Cambridge Consultants in 2009 after her degree in mechanical engineering, said: “The variety of projects and the skills you learn in this company are second to none. I really like the cross-disciplinary aspect of my job, and I have worked on everything from drug inhalers to an avant-garde coffee machine – allowing me to build my expertise in multiple areas.”

The opening of a Singapore office this year is part of Cambridge Consultants’ international expansion programme to deliver innovative product development capabilities to the rapidly emerging Asian market. It is being led by Dr Miles Upton, who has spent the last 15 years working in Asia in senior business development roles.

“Our growth over the last five years has been particularly driven by our successful investment in the right people in the UK and the US,” said Richardson. “I believe the future health of the business depends on continuing that investment – while at the same time exploring other high-growth world markets, such as Asia.”

Cambridge Consultants is also supporting its parent company Altran as a strategic advisor for its new Innovation Centre in Kuala Lumpur. It will be providing innovative product development services to accelerate the growth of blue-chip and ambitious start-up companies in Malaysia.