Delivering double digit growth for a FTSE 250 scientific leader

Oxford Instruments is a leading provider of high technology products and services to some of the world’s most innovative industrial companies and scientific research communities. A FTSE 250 company with £350m turnover, it has a global customer base across its seven distinct business units, all run out of a lean UK headquarters.

The Challenge

“We have a very flat, lean structure, with seven agile businesses that are adept at both operating independently but also being able to join forces when the market opportunity presents itself,” explains Vicki Potter, Group HR and Services Director. “For instance, we have an exceptionally strong software development team in High Wycombe, who act as a centre of excellence for both its parent business and other entities in the group.”

This setup is a strength, but creates challenges when there is a need to fill capability gaps at short notice. “We are an agile operation, with fewer processes and bottlenecks than other organisations with our footprint. However, that leanness also means we don’t have much strength in depth. If we have a gap, there is no bench of director-level candidates, for instance, waiting for their next opportunity, which a lot of global businesses have.”

This means that when vacancies come up, filling them can be hard, particularly when Oxford Instruments is at a point of major transformation. “We have a number of projects going on at the moment,” says Vicki. “They are critical to our future growth, both within the individual businesses going through the transformation and as a group as a whole. There’s a lot riding on them, so when you get a vacancy it creates a real dilemma. How do we plug the gap and ensure we don’t fall back or come off the rails?”

The Brief

An example of this was the situation with the group’s Plasma Technology business, a developer of etch and deposition processing equipment and solutions. With 350 people based in Bristol, it has enjoyed rapid growth, led by its managing director. The unit had a clear, ambitious strategy, which could have been thrown into disarray when the MD resigned.

“We needed someone with the right mix of industry and functional experience – they needed to understand what Plasma did, and also know how to run the strategy. There wasn’t a huge pool of candidates, and even with a six-month notice period, we would have been hunting for the right replacement for much longer. For the business, that could have meant setting back the strategy by at least a year while we found a new MD.”

The Service

It was clear that a temporary solution would be needed while a permanent replacement was found, and it needed to be external. “That’s why we decided to go with an interim hire.”

That meant bringing in an external supplier. We instructed the BIE Supply Chain and Procurement team as experts in the market. "It’s quite simple: you don’t play at interim. You need a network, and you need to be doing it full-time. That’s why we approached BIE to support us."

The MD role was not the first interim BIE had placed for Oxford Instruments – Gordon Whyte, managing director of the firm’s HR practice, had previously helped Vicki with an interim HR director. “We have a relationship going back over a decade, and I know whenever I have a brief for Gordon and the team we’re going to get the same service every time,” explains Vicki. “Firstly, there’s a level of understanding that’s unsurpassed. When I’ve got a gap it’s quite a specific shape. There will be an industry demand, but also there are cultural requirements, how they’re going to fit in with the existing team. Whoever I work with at BIE understands that, they take in what we’re looking for in terms of behaviours and calibre, and the candidates we get bear that out.”

The Results

This was certainly the case for the role at Plasma Technology. The interim MD came in and ensured that not only was the strategy followed, but that it delivered double digit growth over the term of the engagement. “It was exactly what we needed, and it meant that when we did find a permanent replacement, they could come in and move Plasma on to the next step, rather than have to work to get us back on track to where we had been when we first had the vacancy,” says Vicki.

And what does the future hold? “We’re going to need interims for a while yet. We’re in an interesting period of growth, where we need to reach a certain level before we can start to add that depth which will mean gaps aren’t such a challenge to fill. We’re on track to get there, but I’ve no doubt we will have more vacancies that we’ll need BIE’s support on before we get to that point.”