Profile: Matthew Trowbridge Moving on


Matthew Trowbridge, formerly CEO and chairman of Renesas Technology Europe and now chairman of ProVision talks to Neil Tyler about new beginnings and fresh challenges


Matthew Trowbridge. Previously CEO and then chairman of Renesas Technology Europe, he is now not only chairman of ProVision Communications, a Bristol-based company that specialises in multi- room streaming of wireless HD video technology, but the founder and managing director of a new consultancy, MGT Support. Trowbridge graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in Engineering going on to add an MSc in Control Engineering while applying emerging microprocessor technology to real-time control systems.


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After a short period with Fairchild Semiconductors he joined Hitachi Semiconductor in 1983 where he helped create, then head up, the company’s European semiconductor organisation and for whom he served as chairman of its joint venture with STMicroelectronics - SuperH.


So having spent over 25 years with the company his decision to leave Renesas Technology must have been quite a wrench. It came about in no small part because of the merger between Renesas and NEC Electronics, which was announced in the summer of 2009 and completed in April of this year. But for Trowbridge it wasn’t the first significant merger he’d been involved with. Back in 2003 he was deeply involved in the creation of Renesas Technology when Hitachi and Mitsubishi merged their semiconductor operations. “The aim then had been to create a company with scale, with its own design, development and manufacturing capabilities,” he explains. “We were also looking at saving on development costs.” The last ten years have seen numerous consolidations in the electronics industry and Renesas’s decision to merge with NEC came in response to the tough economic conditions both companies were having to deal with as a result of the economic and financial crisis that first began in 2008. According to Trowbridge, “both


14 July/August 2010


he last twelve months have been a period of great upheaval and change for


sets of parent companies and their shareholders had been looking at how to strengthen their respective companies, having both been affected by what was an


unprecedented economic downturn. It was decided to integrate the businesses based on the belief that such a move would bring benefits to both our customers and our respective shareholders." The new venture - Renesas Electronics - is certainly strong. Working capital is around $2bn; the company occupies the number two slot in the world semiconductor company listings, and with revenues approaching $13bn it holds a 31 per cent share of the global microcontroller market. Last year when he was interviewed about the merger Trowbridge talked about the “challenges of integration being overcome” and the “benefits of the merger” being realised in good time. In fact over the last 10 months, or so, the company has undertaken a significant programme of rationalisation with the aim of having a more consolidated manufacturing base.


But all this was achieved without


Trowbridge. So why the decision to leave?


New beginnings


Over a coffee at the Institute of Directors he explains. “I’d been with Hitachi for over twenty five years and for the last six years I had been CEO of Renesas Technology Europe. At the beginning of 2009 I became its chairman and effectively began to take more of a back-seat role in the operations of the business. The company’s operational centre was being moved to Munich in Germany and the company was having to focus more of its activities on southern and eastern Europe. “By the Spring of 2009 three business heads had already been relocated and with the


announcement of the merger with NEC my role was becoming less important. It was simply time to move on.”


Rumours of a possible merger had been rife for quite some time by then.


“Certainly. There was and always Components in Electronics


Small business focus “I knew I wanted to work with smaller UK or European companies. I talked to numerous venture capitalists, I mean after all those years with Hitachi and Renesas I certainly had a full book of contacts having worked with a host of smaller businesses, engineers and technology companies.” To have to start looking for a new role when he readily admits, “there were quite a few ex-CEOs out there looking to do exactly the same thing,” must have been, at least initially, quite daunting but, as he explains, when you look to work with smaller businesses, who invariably have fewer resources to work with, the most important attribute you need to bring to any talks is attention to detail. “Working for a Japanese company prepares you for that. If you don’t master a brief or understand the technology you wont be able to give an opinion and then you certainly wont be taken seriously.”


While 2009 might not have been


will be a lot of background noise when the markets begin to think a merger is afoot. The specifics weren’t known by me and in all honesty I was on holiday in Japan when the announcement finally came through. Merger clearance took around five months to achieve.” When the announcement did became public knowledge Trowbridge decided it was time to move on but after talks took a one year contract with Renesas to help keep the organisation running in the UK, while the details of the agreement were finalised. In July of last year “with the blessing of Renesas” he says, Trowbridge began to look for new opportunities and decided to set up MGT Support.


“I wanted to create a vehicle that would enable me to use my experience to support businesses whether it was helping to build a new one, develop staff or help companies looking to merge and integrate their businesses and teams across borders. I see my role as essentially being that of offering guidance.


“That could mean I act as a CEO ‘buddy’ or work with the Board of Directors to create a consensus and help manage the board or help in open discussion of organisational and people management which, from my experience, can have a critical impact on a company’s success.”


the best of years to start a new business Trowbridge found that there were a number of interesting start- ups and small businesses looking for guidance.


“There was no shortage of small businesses or new companies last year to talk too. The problem for them, and what I found from conversations with several venture capitalists, was a lack of funding. VCs were having problems getting funding together and while the semiconductor market has shown real signs of recovery there has been, in my opinion, a decoupling in terms of the availability of funds.” Trowbridge spent a lot of time in meetings and talking with numerous venture capitalists, many of who wanted him to set up meetings with various CEOs, but that proved easier said than done.


“There were two types of CEO. Those more than happy to meet you and those who avoided a meeting at all costs. Perhaps that reflected a lack of confidence on their part as CEO - but then it’s a tough job.” While he saw a lot of interest


Trowbridge found that he was busier than expected at Renesas and it wasn’t until the beginning of 2010 that he was really able to sit down with a company and talk to them at length.


“And that’s when I met the team from ProVision Communications,” he explains.


ProVision


In April 2010 Trowbridge joined ProVision as Chairman, replacing the company’s founding director, Professor David Bull. Steve Cliffe, ProVision’s CEO said of the appointment that Trowbridge, with his track record in senior management and board positions, was well placed to guide ProVision through its next stage of development.


The company has created a new technology that can reliably stream multiple HDTV signals throughout a building using WiFi.


“They’re big shoes to fill but I think what I am able to bring to the company is my experience in its key markets. Plus I’ve got over twenty years experience in numerous senior management and board positions and that experience will help guide the company as it passes through the next phase of its development as it moves from being a technology developer to a revenue generating licensing company.” In January, ProVision was at CES in Las Vegas demonstrating its HD


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