business profile
➤
has been through acquisition to fill in the technology gaps. The company had acquired NEOS Technologies in 2000, while Jones was away from Gooch and Housego, and in 2004, it acquired an RF electronics company. In 2006, a biomedical imaging company joined the portfolio, followed by SIFAM Fibre Optics in 2007. California-based General Optics was acquired in 2008, and in particular, this gave Gooch and Housego a US company that already had routes in to the US defence market. 2009 was, of course, a tough year for everyone, but Gooch and Housego used the time to develop new products, so that by the time the markets recovered, it was ready to go with a whole host of innovations. Although profitable through the downturn, this set the
company up for rapid growth in revenues and profits in 2010. The most recent strategic change has been the decision to brand all of the companies it has acquired as Gooch and Housego. ‘We had been described as a loose federation
We are now a single
global business, with a single sales team and r&D team
of companies,’ says Jones, ‘each operating largely independently and much as they were before we acquired them. ‘We are now a single global business, with a single sales team and a single R&D team. This was a difficult step to take, and involved us bringing in people with the skills to handle global operations. Our more recent acquisitions (EM4 in 2010 and Crystal Technology in
2011) are being integrated into this global company, rather than just being bolted onto the family as before. It means all members of our team are encouraged to learn and benefit from expertise elsewhere in the organisation.
Jones describes Gooch and Housego as a ‘materials technology’ company. ‘The crystals and optical fibres are at the root of the business,’ he says. ‘And it’s how you use, process and design to exploit those materials that give us the products that we offer.’
The strategy of acquisitions has
also created an unrivalled degree of vertical integration. ‘Through our companies and divisions, we offer everything from growing the crystals, through cutting, polishing, coating, designing and manufacturing the products, adding the electronics and packaging, and more recently adding the control drivers and
software,’ says Jones. ‘It enables us to be in control of all processes that affect the price, quality and delivery time of the end product.’
Reflecting on the past few years of extensive change, Jones believes that the strategic objectives he set out in 2006 have been largely achieved. ‘Defence represented about 6 per cent of our business in 2008; in 2010, it had grown to 25 per cent and this year it will be approximately 30 per cent – so that’s a significant change, achieved through acquisition and organic growth.
Life sciences are following the
same trend if lagging behind in terms of growth levels, but we started later and can take even longer to meet the objectives. Overall, it means we are far less dependent on the semiconductor industry, and the increased diversification reduces our risk of exposure to market fluctuations. l
10
electro optics l MAY 2011
www.electrooptics.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64