Oxford Instruments were trailblazers as the world’s first university ‘spin out’, long before the phrase became fashionable. Emerging from the physics department of Oxford University fifty one years ago, founder Martin Wood developed the world's first superconducting magnet. He firmly believed this could yield good commercial applications, and founded Oxford Instruments on that basis. This was the seed from which a multi million pound business has grown.

The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange in the mid-eighties on the back of the huge growth in MRI machines, as Jonathan explains. “One of the key applications for super conductors is to make very big magnets which don’t use any electricity, a key aspect where you need high magnetic fields. The main commercial application today is in MRI scanners, the standard diagnostic tools you see around the world. The MRI business enabled Oxford Instruments to grow at an almost unfathomable rate, with sales increasing from £5 million to £50 million per annum.”

Jonathan has been in office for five years, with a background managing high technology businesses. His aims and ambitions for Oxford Instruments are quite clear. “What I really liked about Oxford Instruments was the fact that it already had a first class reputation with excellent technology, and yet there was still so much to do, so much potential and opportunity. I could see there was an excellent foundation from which to catapult Oxford Instruments to the next level.

“The business, arguably, had not delivered the financial results that one might expect for a business that has got some of the best technology in the world. It had and still has, undoubtedly, a fantastic brand name in the academic and research markets, but I felt that there was still an important job to be done. The role was perfect for me and I am thoroughly enjoying taking this great company to the next level.

“We have a superb engineering base and some of the best scientists in the world in their respective fields, but that all comes at a cost. My conclusion when I arrived was that the business was too small, even fragile, to support this burden, and I had to redress this imbalance. Every business has the problem of fixed overheads, but for us, the overheads are extreme. There are some huge fixed costs to maintain, and the only way to do that is to increase revenue.

“My ‘grand plan’ when I arrived was to double the size of the business in five years, through overhead efficiencies and increased turnover, thus resulting in increased profitability. So far, we have seen good organic growth and we have made some acquisitions, but, in particular, in 2009 we won one of the largest contracts in Oxford Instruments’ history. The ITER project is a governmental collaboration to produce a new form of energy. It is a long term science programme which will involve building a vast super conducting magnet, currently under construction in Southern France. The aim is to produce a sustainable new source of energy, which if successful will change our world. It is very exciting. It is not nuclear powered, in the conventional sense, and it doesn’t produce any long lived radioactive waste.

“The fuel originally comes from sea water, and so, potentially, it is a sort of panacea to the environmental issues the world faces. However, there is a lot of engineering to be undertaken and it is still by no means certain when the programme will reach completion. ITER are building a prototype demonstrator, and we were lucky enough to win the contract to provide the super conducting wire for that programme. Interestingly, the prototype work was completed at the JET laboratory at Harwell.”

The ITER contract most certainly represents a huge boost in Jonathan’s aim to take the company to the next level, and he admits that the associated benefits of a contract of this magnitude and profile could enable him to navigate Oxford Instruments into clear blue water, well beyond his initial targets. “Yes, we hope there will be more beyond this contract. It is part of the long term growth Strategy. We have so far reported on three of the five years in the plan, and so far we have shown very good growth, annualised at about 15% per year, so we are on course.”

By Jonathan’s own admission, given that Oxford Instruments is involved in the embryonic stages of processes in research and manufacturing, it is easy to lose sight of the end product, as Jonathan continues.

“Our products are used in research programmes, or as part of a process, and we lose sight of, or we don’t see the end result of that research or that process very often. For example, we provide tools that are used in five early stages of the eight stage manufacturing process of High Brightness Light Emitting Diodes (HBLEDs). This is a very energy efficient new form of lighting that, if we replaced all light sources with HBLEDs in the UK, we would save circa £17 billion in annual energy costs (20% of all electricity consumption in the UK is for lighting).

“Another example, and one which is less grand but in its own way is protecting our society from hazardous substances, is our hand-held X-ray Fluorescence analyzer that can detect the presence of lead in toys. Remember the scare a few years ago – now our detectors are being used by the major toy manufacturers to ensure their toys are compliant to the new laws on the amount of lead allowed in consumables.

“Almost all of the research and processes that we are involved in reflect all of the big issues of today. Everything that we are involved in centres around the quest for new sources of energy, or ways to conserve energy, to preserve our environment and to help in health issues. We are at the sharp end of shaping our future, in so many critical areas.”

Some responsibility, and it is a burden which Jonathan appreciates. “We are under no illusions as to where we stand. We have to take a very responsible path in our research as we are pioneers in many ways. It is very rare to have a company with such longevity, and with such firm links to the University, we are a solid and reliable provider of solutions in key areas. We are used as a model in case studies and this adds to our burden of responsibility, a burden we relish and hope we will carry for another fifty years.”

“As for the future, we are in the privileged position of technology provider for the UK Government’s ‘Grand Challeneges’ programme. These are huge, socially important issues such as security and healthcare. We provide the tools for the companies who want to provide more secure banking systems, the more insightful clinical analysis machines, or the tools that will enable companies to inspect for heavy metal pollution. Each and every one of the Grand Challenges rely on our tools, and that gives me great personal satisfaction.”

Being based in Oxfordshire is a significant advantage for Oxford Instruments, according to Jonathan. “On balance, I am very glad that we are based here in South Oxfordshire. We have the like of Culham and Harwell on our doorstep, with some of the greatest scientists in the country.

It does provide a good pool of labour, lessening the need to attract staff from the wider world.

In a world of rapidly changing technology, Jonathan concludes with a word of warning for the future. “Technologies that use energy much more efficiently are the key. We can say goodbye to wasteful cars and wasteful lighting. It is vitally important that there are new mechanisms for doing what we do now, without degrading our lifestyle, but in a vastly more energy efficient way. Technology must be the key to that.

“The other big change is knowledge about our environment. What we all do has huge effects on pollution, healthcare, on the materials we use, and the food we eat. We have been in the dark ages since the dawn of science. We don’t really know how we interact with our environment at an atomic level. However, we are now beginning to realise that we can design drugs for specific ailments, that we can look in detail at the structures of food and drink to see how it nurtures society, in fact all manner of things that weren’t possible before are now possible with atomic level processors.

“Water will become a major issue, a major threat. The population is constantly striving for a higher standard of living, which demands more water. Couple that with climate change and global warming, and the supply of water will become a major issue. It is beyond reasonable doubt that climate change is happening, and it is generated by human activity. You can’t put your head in the sand just because someone didn’t properly record his results. Climate change is here, and we have to do something about it.”

With thanks to Jonathan Flint for his valuable time.

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