entrepreneurs 21
Pictures by Angus Thomas
from space, we now want to do the same for radar. Another key point is that in 2009 the university sold a 99% shareholding in the company to EADS Astrium, so we would be able to expand. We’ve set up a small subsidiary in the US, to see if we can access that market, and our original research group at the university has grown to around 100 people, and that academic-commercial synergy continues to be critical to us to keep our innovation.
How important is it for the UK to stay at the forefront of satellite and space technology? And how do you see SSTL’s contribution to that?
It’s critical for the UK for several reasons. First of all, we’re now totally dependent on space, so if we’re not playing in the game then we’re totally dependent on the strategies of other countries. We should be part of the game because we want to influence the future. Secondly, it’s one of the few
industries which has continued to grow, at about 9% per annum, throughout the recession. It’s a very highly skilled industry, it contributes several billion to the UK economy and it’s continuing to grow and it stimulates young scientists and engineers to think – sometimes they come in and work in this area and then go out to other areas and that provides yeast into the rest of the economy. It’s critical in terms of our national expertise, as well as our national capability and infrastructure. I think what we’ve done at SSTL is to quite fundamentally change the economics of space. We’ve done for space what the PC did for computing, and that is to make it more accessible, more useful, better value for money. We’ve removed the perception of a terribly exotic gold-plated James Bond environment which is only accessible by governments and superpowers.
How will you be pushing the boundaries in the future?
Looking a few years ahead, there are a couple of things I’m keen to see if we can make happen. One is that I believe eventually, whether it’s in 20 or 50 years’ time, we will have sustained human habitation on the Moon, brought closer with the discovery of substantial quantities of water on the Moon, and I think that presents us with a business opportunity and I think the UK really should be part of this. A bit like the Gold Rush in the 1880s, the people who really made the money were those who built the railways, provided the hotels and the entertainment. If we’re going to have human habitation on the Moon you’re going to need GPS, and then you’re going to need Vodafone, and what we could do is provide the infrastructure and business around the Moon.
How would you account for your success?
When I started I did this because I was interested in it and I wasn’t afraid of failing. And I have to say I never set out to make money. I thought this was something which was fascinating and useful, and later on I thought it is going to change the economics of space and we can make a really
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – APRIL 2012
interesting business out of it. And necessity is the mother of invention: because there wasn’t ready money available you had to think of every way in which you could get some money or make it go as far as possible to solve a problem – that essentially created what we’ve got now. There’s a certain element of bloodymindedness: if people tell you you can’t do things, you say “why not?” And if you don’t have the imagination – or foolishness, it’s a thin line between the two – nothing happens. Opportunities present themselves to people and I’m the sort of person who would tend to be optimistic and say “that’s interesting, let’s try it”. If I believe in something and see there’s a logical argument to it then I’m quite prepared to take significant risks.
Looking at your achievements – which include an OBE, knighthood, Fellow of the Royal Society – how does it feel to have been awarded these, and what would you consider your greatest achievement?
Like the money side I didn’t do it to achieve these. It turned out that the business has given the UK something quite unique around the world in this field and that it is useful, so to get the recognition, yes, I get satisfaction from it, and it has significantly helped the business because it allows me to speak with a greater authority, if you like, but I didn’t set out for it to happen. The thing that gives me most satisfaction is seeing the company grow, doing really interesting, new things, which have significantly changed the way people think about space around the world. And we’ve got 400 people who hopefully really enjoy working here, and that’s probably the most rewarding of it. It’s very much a non-hierarchical company, everybody can talk to everybody else and that’s something I would die in a ditch trying to maintain as the company gets bigger. Maintaining that ethos gives me the most satisfaction, a combination of that and when we get the latest set of pictures from our satellites. When I see really stunning pictures of the Earth emerge from space, I think “Wow”, I still get a buzz.
Details:
www.sstl.co.uk www.businessmag.co.uk
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