Jonathan Armstrong

How would you best describe yourself?

I am an international company with significant operations in South Australia

In which Industry sector, do you work/have experience in?

Consultancy

Background on company and/or skills and experience?

Director, Australian Business & Main Board Member, Global Business at Frazer-Nash Consultancy.Responsible for all aspects of this highly regarded systems engineering and innovation consultancy in Australia, including building our fabulous team, business development, excellent delivery and strategic development. Our national HQ is Adelaide and we have 65 people spread across our offices in Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra & Sydney. As a Main Board Member I also have shared responsibility for the performance of our 800-strong global organisation.Frazer-Nash has an engineering heritage stretching back to the 1920s and has grown every year for the past 20 years and that’s a trend we intend to continue. We achieve this by being what I call “appropriately ambitious” – focusing on organic growth through careful recruitment, investing in our staff and maintaining market diversity. We’re not interested in achieving spectacular growth one year for it all to fall apart the next.We’re a true consultancy, offering our clients the best of what we all can do. Why do we do what we do? Because we want to make a difference. We align the enterprise with transforming societal themes, such as urbanisation, keeping lives safe & secure, energy transition and leaving a benign legacy from today’s use of resources. How do we do it? Our core value is “we care”. It’s such a powerful behaviour, shaping how we interact with our clients and staff. What do we do? There will always be engineering content to what we do, be that mechanical, electrical, digital - or in our increasingly connected world, all of them. There will always be significant complexity. We get involved when policy takes its first steps into engineering, where the engineering is novel or hard, or when our clients need help because their engineering has gone wrong.

What do you want to get out of the Club?

I am always interested in expanding my network and meeting those who have an interest in making enduring positive change to the lives of South Australian people. I am particularly interested making new connections in the following two areas.Firstly, those seeking to make change to those complex systems that much of society takes for granted - and where good policy/strategy and good engineering/science need to work hand-in-hand to make that change. Systems such as security, energy, water, food, personal mobility and health. We live at a time where these complex systems are being challenged by climate change, population growth, ageing population and different threats to our security. Innovation and change is required. Change to these systems involves both good policy/strategy and good engineering/science. The quality of the exchange of knowledge at the intersection between policy and engineering is critical and good networks between positive-minded people are vital.Secondly, those involved in projects funded by the Australian tax payer, but involving systems & technology from Europe. With a significant footprint in both Australia and the UK, my team have both firsthand knowledge of Australian capability requirements, legislation and regulation and the design teams and process of many European original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and primes. This includes Defence projects (maritime, air land) and clean energy technologies (including onshore & offshore wind and resilient networks).

What can you contribute?

I lead an outstanding systems engineering, technology & innovation consultancy. My team can help when government policy, or corporate strategy, takes its first steps into technology or engineering. We’re to be found where the technology is hard or novel. We’re to be found where the technology has gone wrong and help is needed. Our services encompass both breadth (support to projects across their full lifecycle) and great technical depth. Maybe more memorably you can think of our services of breadth and depth as being the best professional ghostbusters and propeller heads in town. The exact engineering discipline is less important. It could be mechanical, electrical or digital - and increasingly in today’s connected world all three.

Does your company have a global presence?

Yes

If your company is established internationally, please specify locations?

10 offices across UK and 4 offices across Australia.