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Seeing the light
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12/12/2006
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Davinder Lotay’s office wall has a quote from Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now, you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines, sail away from the safe harbour, catch the tradewinds in your sails, explore, dream and discover.” It sums up the philosophy of the electronics graduate who left the safe harbour of a large company to head up his own company and discover fulfilment.
Lotay is director of Chester based Altimex, a niche provider of optoelectronic components and solutions for electronic control systems and fibre optics data connectivity. Answering an advertisement for a managing director in 2003, he and a business partner bought the company. Lotay took over day to day management and set about making his mark. “It needed a lot in terms of updating production processes and products, but I love challenges,” he says. Altimex doubled its turnover in the first year under Lotay and he hasn’t looked back.
Fibre optics has been Lotay’s passion since the late 1980s. He was a ‘guinea pig’ on a new Engineering – Optoelectronics HND at Sheffield Polytechnic, transferred to a similar degree course at Newcastle and went on to complete a Masters at Hatfield, turning down the offer of a PhD in favour of industry. His position today is far removed from his earlier career in the R&D departments of organisations such as BICC Cables and Corning. Then, he worked at the cutting edge of technology – ‘playing around with lasers like a child with new toys’. Whilst at Corning, he completed an MBA; ‘one of my best experiences’.
Eighteen months of self employment followed, before that passion for optoelectronics led Lotay to join a large connectivity solutions company in north Wales as technical director. In charge of product development, manufacturing and quality, the role gave him exposure to a manufacturing environment. Then Altimex – and a whole new way of working – beckoned. “Going from a large company, with a car and the rest of the benefits, to a little office which didn’t even have a carpet is a big risk,” Lotay says. “You need to have a vision of what you want to achieve and how you’re going to get there, but the rewards are huge.”
Flexibility and adaptability are part of the recipe. Today, Lotay uses a range of skills – he handles purchasing, sales, technical development, manufacturing and HR (he employs four people and has a network of outworkers). Running a company also takes leadership, which, Lotay explains, is different from managing an R&D team. Gone is the safety net of delegation; ‘when it’s your company, you have to stay and get the job done and you’re stuck if staff don’t turn up’.
Altimex specialises in small batch production and bespoke products for a diverse customer base. Responding quickly to individual needs is something Lotay finds stimulating. “Quick response is not possible in large organisations, where the technical people are removed from the customer and the information flow between them and the commercial guys is slow. I can talk to a customer, capture the design concept and meet expectations.” Whilst a phone call can alter the course of a planned day, reacting promptly to customer demands is hugely satisfying. “Money doesn’t motivate me, it’s the fulfilment and joy of seeing something finished, working and a customer happy.”
Lotay has no ambition to move into large scale manufacture, but is considering taking over another micro organisation. Always up for a challenge, he is open to ideas. Returning to Mark Twain, he comments: “People always fear things are difficult, but they’re not. You have to be positive and never look back and wish you’d done things differently.”
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Author
Elaine Essery
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