Edinburgh, Scotland--The first commercial spin out from Heriot-Watt University back in 1971, Edinburgh Instruments is celebrating its 40th anniversary as a manufacturer of photonic laser and spectroscopy instrumentation, as well as gas-sensor products that monitor carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane. The company says it currently has a “bumper export order” indicative of its growth aspirations primarily across the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China).
Employing around 70 people, the company was recently restructured to focus on two clearly defined business areas: a photonics division and a sensors division. Edinburgh Instruments managing director Alan Faichney says, "The photonics side of the business now accounts for just over 80% of our sales, with the BRIC nations accounting for the lion’s share of our exports, although we are seeing excellent sales coming through from Eastern Europe and Asia as well. There are so many geographically remote and specialist universities focusing on particular types of research that require our products and expertise, so it opens up an entirely new opportunity for our next generation of scientific instrumentation and laser products."
Faichney adds, "Like our photonics, division, we’re forging ahead with strong export sales on our Sensors side. Sales into the United States and Canada remain particularly strong and we’re seeing excellent growth in other countries too. We expect this to continue as we bring new gas sensor products onto the market for a wide and diversified range of market applications."
SOURCE: Edinburgh Instruments; www.edinst.com/Edinburgh%20Instruments%20Celebrates%2040%20Years%20Contribution%20to%20Science%20and%20Industry%20as%20Export%20Sales%20Surge%20Ahead.htm
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Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)
Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.