Cambridge Consultants is planning a major expansion of its business as it predicts a significant increase in demand for design services in Europe and the US over the next five years.
The design firm expects to add 150 staff at a new facility in Cambridge and another 75 at its US office over the next five years. “Ninety per cent of these will be science and engineering graduates and PhD students,” Alan Richardson, newly appointed deputy CEO told Electronics Weekly.
According to Richardson, the company does not anticipate any difficulties in finding engineers with the necessary levels of skills and experience. “This is a continuation of our recruitment activities and finding the necessary skills has not been that big a problem,” said Richardson.
He said that being located in Cambridge was an important factor because of the substantial base of highly skilled engineers in the region. “There are now more than 35,000 people working in technology businesses in the Cambridgeshire area,” said Richardson.
“Last year we added 40 staff in Cambridge and over half of those were recruited locally,” added Richardson, whose main role will be to grow the UK office.
The company will expand its facility on the Cambridge Science Park and it has already relocated its US development team to larger offices in Cambridge, MA.
“The US market is significant for us, with half of all of our work coming from there,” said Richardson.
The company provides and full range of design services to large companies. The most active market sectors are wireless systems and medical electronics. “These account for two-thirds of the business,” said Richardson.
Cambridge Consultants also spins out specific development activities into standalone companies. “We have created 20 spin-out companies to date and I anticipate a further two over the next four years,” said Richardson.