Celebrating 21 years of innovation

We celebrated Cambridge Design Partnership’s 21st birthday this month with a cruise down the River Thames followed by a black tie dinner for our staff at the Houses of Parliament in London.

Mike Cane, founding partner, said: “It was thrilling for us to be able to stage a very special dinner for the company in the Members dining room at the Houses of Parliament to celebrate 21 years of excellence in research and development. It was a great privilege to be shown around the House of Commons – the centre of government and democracy in the UK – before retiring to the dining room for our celebration. Standing under statues of prime ministers including Churchill and Thatcher in the members lobby brought home the amazing history of the palace, and added resonance and gravitas to our celebration.”

It was back in 1996 that CDP opened its first office near Cambridge, UK.  Founders Mike Cane, Mike Beadman and Matt Schumann shared a vision that product development would be best executed by taking a more holistic approach compared with more specialist agencies. Mike Beadman said: “When we started CDP we did not quite know what to expect and initially we just focused on survival from month to month. However, we are very pleased that we have been able to grow consistently for 21 years by providing a great service to our customers and reinvesting our profits to develop the world-class team needed to be the best at what we do.”

CDP’s emphasis is on putting the customer at the centre of a 360-degree innovation process that encompasses design, engineering, manufacturing and strategy to deliver complex and challenging products to market with an increased chance of commercial success.

This insight has stood the test of time and recently matured into ‘Potential Realised’ – CDP’s industry-leading and state-of-the-art innovation process. The team and facilities have also grown to deliver this vision, with more than 100 scientists, researchers, engineers and designers operating from a new R&D centre close to the original offices near Cambridge, and from an office in Silicon Valley in the US.

Matt Schumann, the third founding partner, said: “Our success is certainly thanks to our committed and talented team – and our loyal customers who come back to us time and time again. At the heart of the company’s DNA is a passion for innovation and a commitment to excellence in whatever we do. We are certainly looking forward to another 21 years of innovation.”