New man at Expleo helm

Three decades after first walking through the doors, Jeff Hoyle has decided to hand over the reins of the UK arm of Expleo, based at Bamber Bridge.

The new man at the helm is vice president of marine Jonathan Taylor, who began his career with the firm in 2004 and has more than 22 years’ experience in the nuclear, aerospace and defence sectors.

Expleo is an engineering and technology consultancy that delivers projects for major original equipment manufacturers and clients across multiple sectors, including banking, finance, insurance, aerospace, defence, automotive, transportation, marine and nuclear.

Originally founded in 1966 as Atem Engineering in Paris before rebranding to Assystem R&D in 1995, the company has had a presence in Lancashire since it took over Bamber Bridge based INBIS in 2005. The firm has continued to acquire new businesses on its worldwide growth journey and rebranded to Expleo in 2019.

Jeff started his career as an electrical engineer at British Aerospace in the commercial aircraft division before joining Marshalls of Cambridge in 1989, then Ricardo in 1991. He says: “We are an engineering services business, which means we are a people business. We solve problems for our customers, including challenges they may not yet know they have. We provide solutions to make things more effective and more efficient.”

Since the acquisition of INBIS by Assystem, Jeff has held a number of positions including transnational projects director, vice president of wing activities and global vice president of airframe and systems, having responsibility for aerospace operations across the United Kingdom, Southern France, Northern Germany, Spain, Portugal, India and North America.

With a presence in 30 different countries across the globe, Expleo has evolved from traditional engineering into areas including cyber security, digital transformation, quality assurance and systems engineering.

Jeff says: “The move beyond traditional engineering has strengthened Expleo. Transformation is necessary because businesses and their customers, as well as engineering technology more generally, are evolving all the time.

“The pace of transformation over the next five years will likely be much faster than what we have seen over the past 15, particularly with the development of AI.

“We have had to transform both our approach to our customers as well as the skills and mindsets of our people.”

Jonathan, who joined the firm initially as a graduate engineer, adds: “It has pushed us to adapt and grow as a business. We have changed our commercial models, developed new capabilities and invested in our people so they can grow with that change.”

Looking back on his early days with the company, when it was still called INBIS, Jonathan says: “What stood out for me was the breadth and depth of engineering experience across the business, and its highly accomplished and skilful engineers.

“From the beginning it was clear to see that the leadership team had an entrepreneurial mindset that really helped us to grow. But not only that, we were adamant about keeping the family-feel and continuing to invest in developing people, which helped us build a culture that we could all be proud of.”

Those early days as a graduate engineer shaped Jonathan’s belief that developing the next generation of engineering talent is vital.

He says: “The development of engineering talent is vital for our business and our people, as well as for society. With the changes in technology and the global landscape, there are lots of things that we need to continue to be at the cutting edge of, so we can really deliver that value to our clients.

“We will continue the journey that we have been on. Investing in our people and pushing new technology into our teams so we can make the best use of it at the right time.”

On Expleo’s presence in Lancashire, both Jonathan and Jeff outline how important it is for the company both from a skills perspective and for the industry itself.

Jonathan says: "Having a presence in Lancashire is about much more than geography. Engineering is ultimately a people business, and many of the skills, insights and experiences that make a difference to our clients are developed and transferred through collaboration, mentoring and working alongside experienced colleagues. While technology enables us to work in different ways, there is still significant value in bringing people together to learn from one another, solve complex problems and develop the next generation of engineers."

"Lancashire has a long and proud engineering heritage and continues to be a real centre of excellence for aerospace, defence, nuclear and advanced manufacturing. The region provides access to an exceptional talent base, strong academic partnerships and a well-established industrial ecosystem. Our Bamber Bridge office allows us to remain closely connected to that community, support local employment and skills development, and continue delivering high-value engineering services to major clients across the region and beyond."

Jeff adds: “Lancashire is also a major defence and engineering hub, and Expleo works closely with other organisations across that ecosystem. We recruit, train and develop people locally and support our customers across the region.”

Supporting the armed forces community is also important to the company, which holds gold status under the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme. Jonathan explains: “There is a lot of talent that's been developed in our armed services, including technical and leadership skills. We have been working with different organisations in the Armed Forces Covenant to build a bridge for people coming out of the forces.

“Military personnel have a very good understanding of the defence area we are working in. Not only does it give us very transferable skills, but it is a way of continuing to support the defence industry which is providing us with those contracts in order to deliver our projects.”

The pair also explain that Expleo is widening access to engineering through schools, apprenticeships and initiatives for women in engineering.

Jeff says: “We support and sponsor an organisation called InnovateHer, helping to fund training courses for young engineers and giving our staff opportunities to engage with young people in schools.

“We also create opportunities for young people through apprenticeships, supporting them through further education while they gain practical, on-the-job experience and work towards recognised qualifications.”

Jonathan adds: “We have links with a number of different universities and colleges to help widen access to engineering, but it is not just about graduates, it is about everyone. It is also about how we support some of our more experienced people through different engineering courses, degree courses or transition courses.

“We are a member of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects, where we give technical presentations, support and lecture at conferences. We are also aligned with The Durham Institute of Research, Development, and Invention, of which I have become a fellow, because that is focused on bringing academia and industry closer together to work on innovative problems that the UK faces, but also how we build the skills gap.”

With advanced engineering technologies and AI changing the industry, there are a number of opportunities for Expleo and its customers, as Jonathan explains.

“One of the biggest opportunities is helping our clients adopt the right technologies at the right time, particularly AI,” he says. “In the physical product space, AI can help compress development timescales, improve quality and enable better engineered products to reach the market more quickly and cost-effectively. Our role is to help clients accelerate that journey and use AI where it adds genuine value.”

He adds: “The government’s Defence Investment Plan is helping to stimulate thoughts on different concepts across our business, from Future Combat Air System (FCAS) to a hybrid navy. From our point of view, we are well positioned to support the major original equipment manufacturers and our key clients who are world leaders in that space.

“In parallel to that, we have been and will continue to develop our skills in AI, but also in the safe control and operation of autonomous vessels.”

As he prepares to lead Expleo’s UK business at Bamber Bridge, Jonathan’s immediate priorities, he says, will be to build on the heritage of the business while preparing for the future.

He says: “Our people will remain at the heart of that, alongside a focus on positioning Expleo at the forefront of emerging technologies such as AI.

“We also want to build our capabilities in areas such as hybrid navy, aerospace propulsion and connected vehicles, while embracing new ways of working and new software led approaches across the business.”