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New chairman to drive forward high-tech Ipswich business

A high-tech business in Ipswich has been given a major boost with the appointment of John Townsend as the chairman of the Centre for Integrated Photonics Ltd (CIP).

CIP - which is the UK's leading photonics research and development company, and has a turnover of £2.6m - has gone from strength to strength since it was bought from US company Corning Inc by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) in 2003. John's expertise at both board level and with technology companies is set to help the company drive forward its sales growth.

With an economics degree from Manchester University, John has 30 years' experience in investment and venture capital, which includes financial analysis, investment management, growing investment businesses for investment banks, and more recently devoting his time to investing in early-stage technology companies.

John is currently managing director of Chord Capital Ltd in Cambridge, which manages a number of technology ventures. He is also a director of three other technology companies, and he manages a challenge fund on behalf of five universities, including Surrey, Brunel and Reading.

In his new role, John will be looking to help CIP develop its in Infrastructure to support the strong growth in sales that it is experiencing.

"CIP has shown significant growth over the past four years," said John, "but there is still a great deal that can be done to improve this further. The technology that is being developed here - such as fibre-optics for broadband applications, which we hope to see in homes throughout the UK in the near future - is the future of modern communications, and I relish the opportunity of helping CIP to be at the forefront of this."

CIP's core work involves using and generating light in a variety of ways, and the best-known example of this is fibre optics, which are used in communications. Without photonics, the growth of the internet and mobile telephony could not have happened.

Richard Ellis, EEDA chair, said: "Since we stepped in to save CIP and keep it located in Ipswich, it has not only continued to be the country's leading photonics research centre, but also it has made huge strides forward by growing a strong customer base and developing technologies for worldwide clients. It's therefore fitting that someone with John's exceptional ability and experience and has accepted this role. I look forward to seeing the positive impact that he will undoubtedly have at CIP."

Stephen Holton, chief executive of CIP said: "John will add considerable experience to the financial and business dimensions of the company, as we look to embed the technologies that we have developed into an expanding customer base. We are looking forward to working with him as we grow the company. "