Monday, 03 August 2009 00:00

What is your motorsport background?

I went straight to SEAT Sport from university and for three years was a designer on the WRC project. I wanted to go further, so said to myself "where is the best place in the world for motorsport" and decided on England. I left the sunshine and came here to work as a junior engineer for Mitsubishi Ralliart during the era of Tommi Makinen. I worked up through being a rally engineer, test and development engineer and chief rally engineer, until I was the chief engineer.

What made you decide to start your own business?

When Mitsubishi hit problems, we tried to find someone else to carry on the programme, but in the end, decided to close. So I had to leave and decided to start my own company. At the same time I decided to do an MBA. I am an engineer but thought I was missing some business approaches to motor racing, so I thought I would gain some new skills so I signed up at the London Business School.

Did gaining an understanding of business change the way you operated as an engineer?

No question. The experience made me look at my engineering services in a totally different way. It made me have a wider vision in not just looking at the tiny detail but also looking at the broader picture. Looking at a product and thinking, "What is this going to give us value wise, the cost, does it add value to the product and for the customer?"

What areas of motorsport business do you specialise in?

I have the capabilities to do everything from design through to race support, and also to distribute products with an added value to the customer, such as dampers and paddle shift systems. On top of that, I do business development with products that come from outside motorsport. Foe example, we have recently introduced a new composite material from a military supplier. My key role is finding out what the market is for a product, how it needs to be promoted, what pricing structure to use and whether value can be added to the product. This is a vital service to offer, especially in the current climate, as it can help customers reduce their costs.

Do you think that engineering companies can miss out on optimising their profitability through not thoroughly understanding the marketplace?

I believe that a lot of companies have great engineering capabilities but can quite often miss the business side of a solution. They need to take a step back and look at who the product is actually for, and if it matches the clients' needs beyond simply the performance requirements. They need to focus more on the customer, and ask, "Who is the customer?" Then look at their products from a business perspective.

For a copy of the interview then click HERE and follow the links.