Smart technology consultancy successfully bridging the R&D gap with an injection of modern thinking.  

Founder and Managing Director of Rufilla, Joe Nicholson, has been pioneering innovative technologies to connect and exchange data since 1999 and established Rufilla in 2009, when it started life as a software consultancy. More recently Rufilla has expanded its service base by creating the hardware, software and firmware of products for clients including Octopus Energy. He explains, “The R&D world in many companies got quite stale a few years ago as the level of customer expectations sky-rocketed, largely due to the capabilities of iPhone. The same engineers who had designed brilliant products in their sector were now expected to know how to develop touch screens, apps, talk to clouds. A lot of people fell at that hurdle. We support R&D teams with an injection of modern thinking to create modern devices, we not only help them get there but show them how and why we’ve done it and how to do it themselves. We know how to make Smart products and we can make them highly intelligent. We can make them quickly, then we give back all the knowledge.

He added, “You won’t find many consultants that have this viewpoint. It’s a modernisation. For us, it’s not about the IP we have and how we can sell it, we take the approach that we are completely open with everything.  We really do live by it, and this also applies to when we quote for work, we only charge clients for the work that we do. Even if it’s a component that takes 20 hours when we quoted 200 hours, we only charge 20 hours. I’m very proud of our approach and think this fits very well in the Open-Source world. People like the fact that we are who we say we are, we do what we say we’ll do, and we believe in what we do.”

Having been based at the Culham Innovation Centre since 2018, Rufilla has an expanding team of software developers and engineers based in various locations both in the UK and overseas. The Innovation Centre provides them with a base including a lab facility whereby they can work collaboratively both in-person and remotely.  Culham Innovation Centre has played a key role in incubating and supporting innovative companies on their growth journeys since it first opened in February 2001. Managed by Oxford Innovation Space and located within the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA) Culham Campus near Abingdon, Culham Innovation Centre Director Shelley Furey said, “Inevitably many of the businesses here are linked Fusion technology, but we do have other highly-innovative and successful companies here at the centre, such as Rufilla, who are making an impact and contributing to cutting-edge solutions that have a positive impact on everyday life. Rufilla’s approach is so refreshing, and their success is clearly testament to both their passion and technological expertise as well as the transparency they provide their clients. It’s inspiring.”