Profile Dr. Gerald Avison It is many years since I was a ‘Working Woman’ and I was totally unprepared for the informality of The Technology Partnership when I went to interview head man Dr. Gerald Avison. Everybody, but everybody, calls him Gerald! I say ‘head man’ because I was told that nobody has a job title, unless they are visiting Japan or China where it is deemed a politic necessity! We met in one of the nine individually designed conference rooms which I had been lucky enough to see before when TTP allowed the History Group to launch our Melbourn 2000 book in their newly opened building. Since then, more building has taken place and the Science Park is certainly a credit and an asset to Melbourn. Over a cup of excellent coffee and a plate of biscuits which sorely tempted me, I learned that Gerald Avison was born in Yorkshire, near Saddleworth Moor – he grew up there and went to school in Manchester. He studied Aeronautical Engineering at Bristol University and went on to do a post graduate degree. He met and married his wife Jean (a midwife) in Bristol and worked for BAC on the Concorde project, living in Bristol until moving to Cambridge in 1972 when he got a job working for PA Consultants, who were then based in Milton. PA then transferred to the Industrial Estate in Melbourn where Gerald worked for several years until 1987 when there was a cataclysmic shake up and 32 key members broke away from PA. This was a considerable percentage of the workforce and I can remem-
ber the whole village buzzing with the news. These rebels set themselves up in the buildings alongside Moat House in Moat Lane – premises affectionately known as the Rat Hole! David Parnell, one of the group, lived in Melbourn at the time and was a well known member of the Parish Council and Fete Committee. This new venture provided consulting services (or contract development services) dedicated to developing new technologies, new products and to solving problems under contract. The company was owned by the founder employees who put up some £700,000 of their own money to fund the venture, with some external support from CinVen and a laboratory in Australia which had broken away from PA Technology the previous year. This ethos of share ownership within the company is still strong in the group, with opportunities given to new employees to become shareholders with interest free loans and a Share Investment Plan with monthly savings. There is also a profit related bonus scheme. Every effort is made to migrate shares to the next generation and the bulk of the shareholding may only be held by employees or ex-employees. After some years in the Rat Hole they were able to rent new premises in the newly established Science Park, then later they acquired a quarter of the site and eventually became owners of it all. They have a positive policy of interaction with the community, besides sponsoring our own Melbourn Magazine. In a very practical way they support other activities in the area. You will see in another part of the magazine the recent opening, by Dr. Avison, of the All Saints’ Community Hall – TTP were major benefactors in the establishment of the hall and I know from my husband George that they also support his Rotary Kids Out Day at Wimpole. So we build up a picture of a company which has quite old fashioned basic principles of supporting and valuing both their employees and the area in which they operate. In Gerald’s own words ‘I see the company as a social enterprise where people get together to earn a crust’ and this simple, down to earth philosophy is their great strength. Everyone will be familiar with the very attractive campus and the light and airy buildings and landscaping. I likened part of the building to being on a ship. Although they do not have a Social Club as such, members of the 300-strong staff do get together in informal ways for various activities – and they have Corporate Membership of McSplash and the Squash Courts and these facilities are widely used. Every Friday evening at 5 p.m. they may gather to have a talk, usually by a member of the company who will talk on his/ her subject – very often the individual will be working on a specific project and it is an opportunity for other employees get to know the speaker, and understand the other work going on around them. I know from my days on the Parish continued from page 21
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