What are your connections to Cumbria? 

Matt: I wasn’t born here, but I moved here when I was about three. So for all intents and purposes, all I really remember is growing up here. I grew up in Cockermouth, went to Cockermouth School, then moved away to London for ten years before deciding I wanted to come back. 

Tom: Similar for me. I was born and raised here – born here – born in Whitehaven and then moved to Cockermouth when I was a kid. I went to Cockermouth School as well, then went off to university and did other jobs. I always wanted to relocate back, and this was the opportunity that enabled me to come back and work here. 

What does it mean to you personally to be able to work close to home? 

Matt: For me, it’s mainly about being in the Lakes and in the environment we’re in. We’re so close to the Lake District – the mountains, the lakes – and if you’re into outdoor stuff, it’s a great place to be and to live. It’s quiet and tucked away, but at the same time we’re working on really high-level, high-profile engineering. 

We’re doing work like Tower Bridge in London and nuclear sites all over the world, but we’re doping doing it from a small office in Cockermouth. That contrast is really special – doing top-level engineering from a quiet little town near the mountains. 

Tom: Yes same for me. I still call this home even though I lived away for a long time. Being able to do big engineering projects while being based here is really important. For my kids, being able to grow up here, go to school here, and for me to be able to walk to work makes a big difference. You’re close to places like Sellafield and all the interesting work going on locally. Until you’re in the area, you don’t realise how much is actually happening. 

Being able to finish work and go for a fell walk, get out into the hills – it’s a great contrast to city life. 

Has working in your home region changed your work–life balance? 

Tom: Yes definitely. Being able to spend time with family in the hills, going walking – my kids are currently working through the list of the Wainwrights, so they’re dragging me up hills all the time. It’s really cool being able to do stuff that I did as a kid, with my kids.  

But then I come into work and it’s still very high-level, challenging engineering – it’s not slow-paced at all – but then when I leave, I’ve got that contrast of a quieter pace of life. So it is a really good work life balance here.  

What difference does having a workshop on site make to the projects you work on? 

Matt: It makes a big difference. It’s a great space and it’s big enough for most of the things we work on. We’re doing more R&D-type work, building test rigs, doing demonstrations – and it’s really useful to have that capability on site. 

We also use it for demonstration days as well, where people can come in and see what we’ve been working on. Having the workshop attached to the office means you can easily go from theoretical design work on the computer straight into building and testing something practically. Being able to make and demonstrate things is a really big benefit. 

Have you been involved in projects designed in Sheffield and built or demonstrated in the Lakes? 

Matt: Yes – REACH, which I’m working on a lot at the moment, was primarily designed in Sheffield. We’re now moving towards a final demonstrator product, and that will be built and tested up here. We’ll be using this space for a proper demonstration day of that full system, which we wouldn’t have the space to do in Sheffield. 

Tom: We also have people dropping in on their way to or from Sellafield. They might come in for half an hour to collaborate on a proposal, pick something up, or see something in the workshop.

Strategically, it’s a really useful location. People coming from the south of the UK drive right past the office, so it’s easy for them to drop in. We’ve had people print demonstrators here, pick them up, and take them straight to meetings. It makes collaboration much easier. 

How does being based locally affect collaboration with clients and other Cumbrian businesses? 

Matt: Being based in West Cumbria is really important. It’s viewed very positively by local businesses and by Sellafield, who place a lot of value on sourcing locally and supporting the local supply chain. Having a physical presence here definitely helps with access to the wider Cumbrian business community. In terms of collaboration its great because people are aware that we’re here. 

We’ve been to local exhibitions, seen what other companies are doing, and that’s led to opportunities where there are really complementary skills. There are machine shops and tech companies nearby, so it’s a great area for developing innovative stuff. 

Tom: We’ve also had people who are involved in projects pop into the office in person – people who would never have gone down to Sheffield just to say hello. A lot of people who work at Sellafield live locally, so they’ll just drop in. That creates opportunities that you wouldn’t necessarily anticipate. It keeps the office front of mind for people as somewhere they can come and work, collaborate, or just sit and get things done while meetings are going on. 

What excites you most about the future of the Lakes office? 

Matt: Extending our workshop capability is really exciting. We’ve got plenty of space, so building on our practical, hands-on capability – more test rigs, more machines – will really strengthen what we can do here. It’;s ‘s a great base, so as we grow the team, I think there’ll be a real buzz about the office, which will be great. 

Tom: I agree. As the team grows, having more like-minded engineers here will be really exciting.  

For businesses in Cumbria, especially around the energy coast, it would be great if they think of us as ‘that company in Cockermouth,’ rather than only knowing us through Sheffield. Growing that local presence and identity is really exciting.