Scottish innovation centre CENSIS prepares for new chapter

What is your business called? CENSIS

Where is it based? We’re based at the Inovo Building in Glasgow city centre.

What does it produce/do? We were established by the Scottish Funding Council as Scotland’s innovation centre for sensing, imaging, and IoT (Internet of Things) technologies. From the start of August, however, we will transition to become an independent innovation delivery organisation that specialises in the development and deployment of advanced sensing solutions and connected digital systems. There will be a lot of continuity, but some important differences too.  

To whom does it sell? We partner with organisations of all sizes, from both the public and private sectors. Our focus is on helping them to develop, manage and deploy effective digital systems and identify new market opportunities, ensuring speed to market, cost-effectiveness and customer satisfaction.

How many employees? We have the equivalent of 20 full-time members of staff, which we will soon be looking to grow.

What, if any, major changes has the operation seen and how have you dealt with these? Our financial model has changed over the years. We began as an organisation fully funded by a grant from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), then moved to one that embraced a range of third-party income sources, and will operate entirely without support from SFC in future. Naturally that has meant developing our in-house talents and bringing in new skills to build the business as it moves into its next phase of growth. Nevertheless, our key objectives continue to be boosting economic growth, while delivering environmental and societal benefits across Scotland and the UK. The way we’re funded may have changed, but what we do remains the same.

What attracted you to your current role? It was all about the challenge of delivering what CENSIS needed at the time – moving the organisation from being fully funded by public money, to partial support, and then to none. My motivation has always been the same: take on big challenges and prove they can be delivered.  

What were you doing before? I ran my own companies for a while, which I subsequently sold. I also held a series of board and non-executive roles at organisations like the UK Defence Solutions Centre and Reliance High Technology. Before that, I served as chief executive and president of QinetiQ’s North American operation and started my career at the Ministry of Defence.

What do you least enjoy? Politics with a small “p”. I really don’t like when people aren’t direct - I’m a firm believer in facing challenges head-on.

What do you consider to be the main successes of the business?

One of our biggest successes has been launching a commercial arm of the business, offering new-to-the-market products we have developed using our own IP (intellectual property). It’s been crucial in helping us shift to the new funding model and establish a sustainable future structure. We also managed to achieve this during the pandemic, which was no small feat.

We have also been thrilled to see many of the businesses we’ve supported go on to secure major investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB). Companies like Integrated Graphene (now iGii), PneumoWave, Utopi and Krucial are fantastic examples of successes we’re proud to have played a part in.

And, of course, we take great pride in our reputation as trusted advisors, unconnected to one particular area of technology. We’re committed to offering expert advice, even when it doesn’t directly benefit us, and that’s something we stand by.  

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What are your ambitions for the firm? Ultimately, we want to further strengthen the trust we’ve built with our partners as an independent advisor. With our transition away from the old grant system of funding, I’m looking to get us to the point where we are completely self-sustaining within a couple of years – and we have the runway to achieve that. Over time, we’re also aiming to generate recurring revenue from our products, as this would enable us to become a more proactive funder within the ecosystem.

What are the challenges facing the sector and market, and what could be done to overcome or address these? One of the major challenges is the lack of confidence in adopting new technologies at scale. Delivering pilot programmes is beneficial, but they often lead to protracted discussions about the next steps and taking them forward to the stage where they have impact. This creates discontinuity and makes it hard to take the necessary risks and think long-term. What we really need is a change of mindset. We already have the resources and facilities in place – we just need the courage and commitment to push forward at a larger scale.

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What single thing would most help? Appointing a chief innovation officer in Scotland would be a great starting point for making innovation a central part of the economy. I recently spoke with a former colleague in Denmark, and was impressed by how much the Danes value innovation as a core part of the economy. You can see this in all the young companies breaking new ground there. Scotland could really benefit from adopting a similar approach.

What is the most valuable lesson you have learned? The importance of knowing when to pivot. It’s crucial to have options and adjust when things don’t go as planned. Entrepreneurship often involves setbacks, but if you can adapt and stay resilient, you’ll grow from the experience. Seeing failure as a learning opportunity helps you avoid making the same mistakes – that’s something they are much more forgiving about in the USA. Over there, many investors won’t even consider an entrepreneur unless they have failed at least once.   

What was your best moment? One of the best moments was getting early validation that our income-generation strategy would actually work through the award of a significant contract. It was a huge boost to our confidence. Also, bringing the community together through various outreach programmes and events like our annual conference, the Technology Summit, has been incredibly rewarding and you can see the success of that through the growth of the ecosystems in our sectors.  

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What has been your most challenging moment in life or business? One of the toughest moments was last year with the Scottish Funding Council’s decision not to continue funding three of its seven innovation centres, including CENSIS.  However, we had always planned for our funding model to evolve over time and were already well on our way to becoming self-sustaining. So, while we’re having to make this shift a bit sooner than we expected, we’re very much on the right track.

How do you relax? I’m not the best at relaxing! But music really helps me unwind and I’ve collected more than 6,200 records over the years, which has become a bit of an obsession. I also like building and rebuilding cars.

What phrase or quotation has inspired you the most? One phrase that’s always stuck with me is something my dad used to say, “there’s no such word as can’t”.

What is the best book you have ever read? Why is it the best? I don’t generally like business books, but I learned a lot from The Alchemy of Growth. I also enjoy autobiographies – the most recent one I read was by Sir William Lyons, the founder of Jaguar.

Where do you find yourself most at ease? On the moors in North Yorkshire. It’s where I grew up, and I love going back there.

If you weren’t in your current role, what job would you most fancy? I like the idea of turning a hobby into a business, so running my own music store and venue would be ideal. Particularly if it could be combined with fixing old cars, a bit like some businesses in the USA where they have completely different ideas in one setting.

What countries have you most enjoyed travelling to, for business or leisure, and why? Sweden has been a standout for me. I really enjoy the culture, the people’s sense of humour and the stark seasons – winter is brutally cold, but the summer is great.