Campbell Scientific Ltd (CSL) was founded in 1985 by Gaylon Campbell, the late Eric Campbell (both Directors of Campbell Scientific, Inc., of Utah, USA) and Dick Saffell, the present Managing Director. At that time, most of the sales had been in the USA or through Claude Labine's new venture in Canada. Although CSI had exported to Europe, they could see the advantages of establishing a European base in the UK.
Initially, CSL assembled a datalogger designed at the US parent company, and gradually began to integrate the datalogger into systems and weather stations using European sensors. During this time the company leased premises from the University of Nottingham. The company has maintained close working relationships with East Midlands Universities since then.
With the introduction of the CR10 in 1987, sales increased rapidly, and the company grew. In 1990, CSL moved to a building in the centre of Shepshed and in 1996 moved again to Campbell Park—a purpose-built office and assembly plant on the outskirts of the town. CSL has over 1400 m2 of space available for office accommodation, manufacturing and storage with sufficient land to treble in size. The next stage of development is due to start soon, with an extension to the building planned for 2005.
Shepshed is in the centre of the UK, close to East Midlands International Airport and several major roads, allowing easy access for the transport of equipment into Europe. The company employs around 40 people at the UK office. The region is at the heart of the UK's hightechnology industrial and research sector, and skilled labor is provided by the local universities and colleges of Loughborough, Leicester and Nottingham.
Although CSL is based in the UK, as much as 70 percent of its business can be exported to Europe. Europeans tend to appreciate local sales outlets and support. CSL has subsidiary offices in France and Spain, and is looking to establish another European office. The new web site will also cater to a large number of the languages across Europe.
CSL’s single largest market in the UK is related to civil engineering, primarily the monitoring of bridges, dams, tunnels or buildings. This has changed the nature of its business away from weather stations, although CSL is still a key supplier for research grade and Met Office approved systems.
New partnerships have been developed and the range of products has been increased to be able to provide different types of systems. These systems include water monitoring and telemetry, as well as systems for the burgeoning wind energy industry in Europe.
Looking further forward, CSL has embarked on a number of research collaborations with Universities in the region and expects to develop several new products that will benefit researchers and the Campbell community over the coming years.
