Alan Richardson will be retiring after 33 years with the company. Product design and development firm Cambridge Consultants announces that Eric Wilkinson has been appointed CEO, effective from October 1st. The announcement follows Alan Richardson’s retirement after a proud career with the company. Richardson will support a smooth transition as Executive Chairman, before his subsequent departure at the end of the year.
On his retirement, Alan Richardson commented, “Having worked closely with Eric for many years, I retire safe in the knowledge that the firm is in a strong position and set for further success. Eric’s broad and deep experience in our business, combined with our strong management team, will enable him to drive the business to even greater heights.”
The business has grown exponentially in the last five years under Richardson’s lead, with revenues growing by a factor of three and staff growing from 300 to 750, spanning sixteen time zones to give global reach. The company also accepted its third Queen’s Award yesterday, for the growth in its international sales, which have been the lynchpin of recent growth. This excellent performance has been built on a staff strongly engaged in the growth mission and Cambridge Consultants has been a Sunday Times Top 100 Company for the last four years and its US West Coast subsidiary Synapse is a Best Place to Work in Washington. The company has continued to harness breakthrough technologies including robotics, advanced sensors, machine learning, digital health and wireless connectivity to provide market leading innovative products for its clients. Strong growth has been achieved in consumer, medical, telecommunications, security and industrial markets, while the company has an internationally renowned product design capability, including two recent Red Dot Award wins.
Wilkinson’s appointment will continue the momentum and growth that have been achieved in the last five years. Wilkinson has been with Cambridge Consultants for 26 years and has been Chief Operations Officer since 2011. As a Board Member he has been a leading player in the development and implementation of the strategy that has delivered huge growth in recent years. He brings a wealth of experience in product development across medical, consumer and industrial technologies and has been the architect of the project management and product development processes that have enabled the business to scale. He has played a leading role in developing the company’s world-leading facilities, including the redevelopment and extension of its state of the art laboratories in Cambridge.
“Alan Richardson has played a pivotal role in all of these successes and I’m grateful for everything he has done to hand over such a strong and growing business”, said Wilkinson. “I can restate our commitment to employing ambitious, entrepreneurial technologists and designers in leading technology hubs, such as Cambridge, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Singapore and Tokyo. Today we’re actively recruiting for more than 100 roles. These teams will be our bedrock as we continue to deliver breakthrough innovation and world firsts for the benefit of our clients worldwide.”
