BRIGHT SPARKS Bright Spark is...


Joe Booth CEO


Altus Group Ltd.


How Long have you been in the Electronics industry?


I have been in the electronics industry offi cially for about six years and a CEO of Altus for just over two years. That being said, when your father is a founder of a company, and you grow up alongside his activities, you could say that I have unoffi cially worked in the industry since I was a little boy overhearing conversations, meeting business partners from the industry and being invested in the success of the family fi rm.


Originally I was in the life science space with a degree in Human Biology. This draws many parallels to the engineering world, and it is focused on details, state- of-the-art technology and accurate project delivery. I have been blessed to work in industries that are working at the cutting edge of possibility and pushing the boundaries of what is known currently and what will be standard practice tomorrow. Seeing technology before anyone else and being involved in the challenges of commercialising a design into a market- ready product for the masses makes my work life a joy.


Tell us a bit about the company you work for.


Altus Group Ltd. is a distributor of electronic production equipment in the UK and Ireland. We specialise in specifying, implementing, and supporting production


lines for electronics manufacturers. We are a second-generation family business focused on support excellence because our horizons are long, and we aim to be the trusted partner not just for today but for a generation. Our mission is to be the best at what we do for our customers. We achieve that by focusing on pre-sales and after-sales support, on-boarding top tier suppliers, and enabling value added opportunities for our partners.


What do you enjoy most about your role?


I enjoy my role end to end. As a CEO of a small and dynamic organisation, like many leaders, I wear multiple hats depending on the priority at the time. As the old adage goes, ‘variety is the spice of life,’ and that is exactly what my roles gives me. The variety of areas I can add value to and work on is key for me. At Altus, you couldn’t be further away from a pigeonhole.


Of course, strategy is an element that I spend a good deal of my time working on. Working on the business and steering the ship is vital to meet our long-term objectives. However, as a people person, I feel most at home dealing with customers and learning about their requirements in sales and aftercare.


As a service business, our primary role is to add value through all our interactions with our partners. I feel that by being at the coal face of the business and


learning about the needs of our partners and customers, we can quickly change practices or deploy and develop services at the start of a wave and be ahead of the market rather than when it is already formed.


How did you get into the industry?


I got into the industry after some persuading from my father, the founder of Altus, and after I had made something of myself and developed the skills needed to contribute to the existing team. It was a natural fi t and always a likely path for me to take, however, it was important for me that it was earned and deserved. I couldn’t be more grateful for my time with Thomson Reuters in giving me that foundation and baking in the principles I still hold onto today.


In a family business, it is important to evolve and question why things are done in a certain way and if they can be modifi ed and improved. My experience before Altus has allowed me to look at the organisation through a different lens. It has, in part, shaped that evolution and without that time out of industry, I would not have been able to do what I am doing today. Tell us one thing you really like about the electronics industry


I love the fact that it is so critical to everything in the modern world. When you look around the room that you are in,


8 MARCH 2023 | ELECTRONICS TODAY


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