Charlie Peppiatt I Interview


in place I expect people to come on the journey we've started." From his own experience Peppiatt believes that the key to driving change in a business is not what you say but what you actually do that defines you as a business manager. Senior management need to be 'do-ers' not 'talkers'. "When I was at Laird whenever the CEO visited me in Beijing the first thing he asked me, every time, was not about our revenue or profits but what were we doing on the new technologies and where we were in terms of product development. Laird has a strong technology road map. As the CEO said at the time there are a lot of electronics companies out there, but far fewer who focus on the technology and the value you as a company can add."


areas. Among them are lighting and LED technology; the M2M wireless space and the last, according to Peppiatt, is quite specific and involves the work of a global OEM in upgrading capacitive touchscreen technology. "We want to be able to review that and see how we use that across our own product range," Peppiatt explains. "What we've done over the past twelve months is get this business fit for purpose and modernised. It has 100 years of history behind it and has done a lot of things right, but we needed to look to the future. What kind of business did we want to be in five to ten years?


"The conclusion that we have come to, and I am really excited by this, is that rather than being a number of separate


L-R: Tony McFadden, Director at United, Charlie Peppiatt, CEO Stadium, Joanne Estell Finance Director, Stadium and Craig Helm, Director at United


That focus on technology has seen Stadium establish a Group Technology Board. Meeting every few months it brings together the company's engineering and R&D heads who talk through new products, ideas and market opportunities. "We are beginning to think like a technology group," Peppiatt says. "We're a small PLC and we need access to funds to grow and support the business. What the Group Technology Board does is raise the level of debate within the business. It enables us, as a group, to identify technologies and market opportunities. It also, crucially, enables us to work out whether we should invest in designing a product ourselves or look at acquiring that technology."


The company may have spent the past twelve months focused on internal restructuring but it is now well positioned to look at further acquisitions. The recent move for United Wireless is an obvious case in point.


"What we have created with this Group


Technology Board is a cadre of engineers who are able to work together cross fertilising their ideas. We are a technology business and that needs to be at the front of any conversation, and that focus has created a momentum of its own. "Recently a major customer of ours in the air control space invited members of the Board to attend a technical seminar. It was a great opportunity for us to share ideas and, in turn, open up further opportunities for the business." Within the Group Technology Board engineers are focusing on a number of


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standalone entities excelling in supplying medium power solutions or customised instrumentation solutions we become a global integrated business. "We have an EMS business with a global footprint; we have extensive power supply capabilities and the acquisition of IGT Industries gave us a presence in the market for display and interface applications. What we are looking to offer is an integrated business providing customers with a combined offering." The acquisition of United Wireless brings to Stadium capabilities in M2M. "Customers want to be able to


remotely control and monitor their devices."


The key drivers that have been affecting the consumer space for some time are now impacting the industrial space, according to Peppiatt. "Miniaturisation, efficiency and power management; connectivity or the Internet of Things; the desire for feature rich user requirements are providing companies like Stadium with a host of technological and business opportunities. All of them create challenges for the electronic designer, tester and manufacturer and we need to be at the top of our game when it comes to handling this transition."


Having closed the company's Rugby


site; strengthened its management team in Asia and in the UK; successfully managed the integration of IGT into Stadium; developed its Power Business Supply business and launched its Group Technology Board, Stadium is certainly walking the talk. ■


Components in Electronics September 2014 21


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