Romax

For engineering company Romax, a combination of skills, accessibility and cost made Nottingham the clear choice for their company headquarters.

The company are a leading global provider of software and services for gearbox and driveline systems. Providing services across design, installation, analysis and optimisation, Romax have rapidly made themselves the first choice solution across a range of vertical sectors including wind energy, automotive, rail, marine and aerospace. Their clients include transmission engineering teams from 14 out of the world’s 15 auto manufacturers.

Headquartered at The University of Nottingham Innovation Park, Romax has a huge focus on research and development that drives the business forward. Key relationships with higher education and a nucleus of science and engineering talent creating a cluster of such businesses in Nottingham drew them to the city. The company’s expansion strategy, which sees them targeting an ambitious turnover of £20.5m for the financial year ending 2015, encompasses key partnerships with higher education to make vital innovations.

60% of Romax staff are qualified engineers with 23% of those holding a PhD. The company has a unique approach that combines multi-disciplinary teams, producing a mix of deep engineering skills and leading-edge scientific know-how to bear on projects. This allows the company to add more value at every stage of design, development and throughout the production process.

The company was founded back in 1989 by Dr Peter Poon, a leading figure in the world of engineering who has advised the UK Government on industrial policy and worked for the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). An expert on rolling bearings, Dr Poon had a history of providing high-value mechanical and software solutions to many transmission and engineering firms. He has seen Romax go from strength to strength over the past few years, maintaining technology leadership through collaboration on research projects with universities, businesses and governments globally.

Speaking about being a globally successful firm with a base in Nottingham, Dr Poon said: “The key question any business needs to answer when thinking where to locate is which area provides the infrastructure and support services it needs at the best possible cost. We have found Nottingham, and the East Midlands more generally, to be a perfect blend of what we need as a company.”

“We have good access to a skilled workforce, excellent transport links so we can easily connect to our global customers and offices, and access to a growing technical and engineering hub in the UK. The city has two excellent universities and one in five jobs are science-based, making this an ideal spot for high tech companies. The East Midlands continues to go from strength to strength building a name for itself as a world-renowned centre of innovation.”

Romax has seen rapid growth in several areas of its business, including its world-leading wind energy solutions, and this is down to the unrelenting focus of research and solutions-based engineering work, a focus that Nottingham as a location can only support and enhance.

The city that has always thought outside the box is now home to a new wave of engineering talent.