Cambridge Consultants Ltd

Infobox Company
company_type = Private (Private company)
company_name = Cambridge Consultants
company_
foundation = 1960
location =
industry = Product and technology development and consultancy
num_employees = 300
homepage = [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/ www.CambridgeConsultants.com]

Cambridge Consultants is an international technology development and consultancy company, providing outsourced R&D to clients - from start-ups to blue-chip multinationals - who need to develop innovative, technologically novel, breakthrough products. The company also provides business consulting services in the areas of innovation management, market strategy and technical due diligence.

As of mid-2008, the company employes about 300 engineers, scientists, mathematicians, consultants, analysts and support staff in both Cambridge, UK and Boston, USA. In addition to their client work, staff at Cambridge Consultants are free to develop their own intellectual property, either for licensing to clients or as the basis for a spin-out business.

History

Founded in 1960 by two Cambridge graduates – Tim Eiloart and David Southward – "put the brains of Cambridge University at disposal of the problems of British industry", Cambridge Consultants was one of the UK's first technology transfer businesses. Their early work laid the foundations for what is now known as the Cambridge Phenomenon or Silicon Fen. Indeed, many of the high-tech companies in and around the city of Cambridge can trace their roots back to Cambridge Consultants.

Initially, the company was privately run. However, in January 1972, it became part of [http://www.adlittle.com/ Arthur D. Little] , the large American management consultancy, gaining professional management support and access to international markets. Cambridge Consultants remained part of Arthur D. Little until 2001. In 2002 the management team at Cambridge Consultants acquired the company, backed by Altran, Europe’s largest technology consultancy.

Despite the early difficulties witnessed by many technology companies at the turn of the millennium, Cambridge Consultants has continued to grow since 2000, and now has a reputation as one of the world’s most innovative product development companies.

Current business

Cambridge Consultants' work spans a range of different industry sectors, and its structure is designed to mirror these :

The company's [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/medical_technologies.html Medical Technology] Division develops products and technology for drug delivery (respiratory, transdermal, injection, etc), diagnostics (both lab-based and point-of-care devices), and surgical and interventional device manufacturers. The company is also working to develop a new generation of [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/medwire.html wireless medical] products.

The [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/wireless_home.html Wireless] Division develops chips through to complete products and is active in the majority of wireless technologies available today, including satellite and WiMAX to ZigBee, UWB and NFC. Cambridge Consultants is responsible for many 'world-firsts' in wireless communication, including:

* The first single-chip Bluetooth device, which was spun out to create Cambridge Silicon Radio, now the market leader in Bluetooth chips
* The [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/cs_air_traffic_radio.html digital radio] used to manage the majority of the US airspace
* The world's first [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/cs_videophone.html GSM videophone] for Orange
* The world's first [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/cs_telemetry_wiremed.html digital wireless patient monitoring system] operating in the WMTS medical frequency band, which the company developed for its client Philips Medical Systems

The Products & Systems division within Cambridge Consultants develops [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/cleantech.html CleanTech] , [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/industrial_products.html industrial] and [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/consumer.html consumer products] , [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/transport.html transport] technologies, and ASICs and FPGAs. Many ASIC projects use Cambridge Consultants' XAP processor core. The Division also developed the [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/prism200.shtml Prism 200] , an advanced handheld through-wall radar.

The [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/cleantech.html Consulting] Division at Cambridge Consultants advises companies on market strategy, transaction support and innovation management, especially where complex technology is involved. The Division's consultants and analysts carry out technical and commerdial due diligence for clients around the world, and provide Expert Reports for companies listing on the UK stock market. Using a range of [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/cons_innovation.html bespoke consulting tools] , the teams also assist organisations to better manage ideas, and to prepare more effectively for future market scenarios.

Spin-outs

Cambridge Consultants has created over twenty new ventures in the past twenty-five years, several of which have gone on to achieve listing on the London Stock Exchange, namely [http://www.domino-printing.com/ Domino] , [http://www.xaar.com/ Xaar] , [http://www.prelude-trust.co.uk/ Prelude Trust] , CSR plc and Vivid (sold to [http://www.vectura.com/ Vectura] ). Other successful spin-offs include Alphamosaic and [http://www.incadigital.com/ Inca] , who have subsequently been acquired by Broadcom for $123m and [http://www.screen.co.jp/ Dainippon Screen] for Euro 43.8m, respectively. Both sales were achieved within five years of the companies being formed.

In a new approach to venturing, Cambridge Consultants established a joint £10M joint venture fund with the technology venture capitalist [http://www.espritcp.com Esprit Capital Partners] . The fund will be used to invest exclusively in Cambridge Consultants’ own spin-outs. [http://www.cambridgeconsultants.com/news_pr178.shtml]

Further reading

* Dale, Rodney (1979) "From Ram Yard to Milton Hilton: A History of Cambridge Consultants Ltd, 1960-1979", 36 pp. Cambridge: Cambridge Consultants Ltd

External links

* [http://www.CambridgeConsultants.com Cambridge Consultants] – Official website
* [http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/directory/orgprofile/jobs/default.aspx?objid=4802 Cambridge Network] – Cambridge Consultants is a founder member of the Cambridge Network and regularly posts news and jobs here