Zero Petroleum founder Paddy Lowe has admitted the lure of Bicester Motion for his fuel start-up was two-fold: the site itself, and the power of its position within Motorsport Valley.
Speaking as part of a round table with fellow pioneers in The Engineer, one of the leading publications showcasing engineering and technological innovations, the former Williams F1 chief technical officer also praised “The Motorsport Valley effect” for being a fundamental reason for his firm’s rapid growth – in plant and personnel.
Being based at the heart of Motorsport Valley, drawing on the expertise and experience pooled within, ensured Plant Zero in The Command Works at Bicester Motion shot up in unheard-of timescales.
“The regular process to deliver that plant, with normal EPC [engineering, procurement and construction], would be nine months,” he said. "We did it in two months. That’s how we work.”
“It’s fantastic science and we love the site,” Paddy continued, “but actually the larger reason was the pool of recruitment.”
His fellow ex-Mercedes F1 engineer Robin Tuluie of Physics X reinforced his point, having grown from a team of a handful at Bicester Motion to an international team of innovators on both sides of the Atlantic. “We’re incredibly fortunate that we’re within an hour of half a dozen of the world’s top universities when it comes to engineering, machine learning and science,” he said.
“This doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world – even in America you don’t have a cluster like that. When we look at simulation engineering talent – and we do because we scour the globe – the best engineering simulation talent is in the UK.”
The draw of the UK extends beyond motorsport, though. Skyports, which operates the UK's first vertiport test bed for vertical take-off and landing aircraft at Bicester Motion, has found all roads seem to lead back to Britain when it comes to expertise.
"When I'm working in the Middle East or wherever it is around the world," said its development lead, Edward Russell, "they're all trying to use tax incentives, whatever it is, to pull all the workforces to whatever country it is. And for some reason, it just keeps on coming back to the UK."
The full round table can be read at theengineer.co.uk.