Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

The tech consultancy, famous not least for spinning out world-class wireless company, CSR already has its eyes on the next phase of its global expansion, with the Far East understood to be the hot favourite.

Newly appointed deputy CEO, Alan Richardson said: “We are always looking at expansion possibilities and although we do not expect to make an announcement quite yet, it is a case of ‘watch this space.’”

The technology consultancy plans to grow its Cambridge workforce by 150 to 400 in Cambridge over the next five years.

In addition to wireless and medical technology, Richardson singled out consumer products as a driver of the company’s growth in the medium term.

The new facility – to be constructed at the firm’s existing site at Cambridge Science Park – will be an extension of the current base, involving some demolition of the oldest parts of it.

In addition to providing extra capacity, Richardson said the development would also enable the company to significantly update its drug delivery laboratory.

Cambridge Consultants, which was established nearly 50 years ago, develops technology in a diverse range of industries including medical, industrial and consumer products, automotive, transport, energy and wireless. It is part of Altran, a Paris listed group that turned over almost €1.5bn last year.

As part of an operational reshuffle, CEO Brian Moon will now be based in the firm’s US office in Cambridge MA to spearhead growth on that side of the Atlantic. He “continues to direct worldwide operations,” according to the company.

Cambridge Consultants plans to quadruple the size of its US operation by 2012, growing headcount to 100 over the period. The office was opened in 2004 but has not met the growth targets announced by the company at the time.

The US team will also be relocated to larger premises in Cambridge, MA to be closer to the world-renowned MIT.

The company had said it hoped to create 75 jobs in Boston by 2006.

Richardson denied that Moon’s move to the US represented a shift in focus for the firm. He also played down any notion that remedial action was required to improve Cambridge Consultants Inc’s performance.

“The US office was established primarily as a medtech business, but we plan to add other offerings such as wireless. We felt that we needed to change the existing management structure as it enters this new period of significant growth.

“The US market is significant for us, with half of all of our work coming from there. It is important for us to be available close to that part of our customer base and that we also maximise the local opportunities, something that we are able to expedite with our CEO running things from the US.”

Dr Moon said: “After a successful few years here, I’m eager to expand on our role in the US as a technology incubator as well as a provider of product development services.

“Cambridge, Mass. is home to exactly the kind of entrepreneurial engineers that thrive within our portfolio approach to innovation - where we encourage novel thinking outside of our client work and reward engineers for doing so.

“We’re keen on expanded hiring and acquisitions in the coming months that allow us to better serve the medtech and wireless sectors.

“We also want to further develop what has been the most high profile part of our business, namely the creation of start-up companies. In the past we have done this exclusively with internally-created IP but now, given the wealth of talent in the Cambridge/Boston area, we are exploring the opportunities that we can create with partners, be they academic or venture concerns with causative IP.”