The Company was set up in 1985 by Dr. Martin Thomas, who had previously tried to combine his interests in research with his desire to become more involved in commerce by accepting an offer to join an industrial research laboratory. However, he soon acquired the reputation of being an esoteric academic, as a result of his heretical views that in order to apply science successfully, it might be a good idea to try and understand it first. This divergence of views led Martin to set up Cairn Research, initially as a part-time operation, to prepare for the day when he was told that his services were no longer required. In the event, that day never came, because in the spring of 1989 he resigned instead. Although he would like everyone to believe that the subsequent closure of the entire research site was because they couldn't manage without him, they didn't seem to managing very well with him either, and he's just pleased that Cairn are coping rather better.
Martin's industrial experiences led him to believe that a small Company with a "can-do" philosophy, unimpeded by external interference, could compete very effectively with much larger organisations. To meet the requirement of independence, the business has always been self-financing, which was possible because of its origin as a part-time activity. The business was also kept within Martin's house for the first couple of years after he went full-time, by which time we had done well enough to buy our own premises in Faversham (to which visitors are always welcome). Martin's expertise in optical measurement techniques was already well known from his previous research on intracellular calcium measurement in molluscan neurones using metallochromic indicators, so we were well placed to become involved with the emerging field of fluorescence indicators. Fluorescence is still our mainstay, but we are steadily diversifying into other areas as well.
Adrian Hawkes started working for us in 1988, while Martin still had his industrial position. He had broken his leg playing football, and was unable to carry on with his previous job, so Martin set him to work building circuit boards and generally looking after the business during the day while he went off to do his own day job. Adrian's first love has always been mechanical engineering, and he started an engineering apprenticeship when he left school. Britain still had some vestiges of an industrial base in those days, but once the economic policies of the early 1980's had put that right, he (like many other apprentices) had to find other things to do for a living. Adrian looked after our production for several years, but more recently, we have purchased a variety of machine tools, and he is now back in his element operating those (having completed a City and Guilds engineering course). For large production runs, our mechanical engineering is usually contracted out. However, small volume work and prototyping are generally carried out "in house".
By the summer of 1990 we were sufficiently busy that we needed some extra help, so we took on James Kerin, who was then still at school and looking for something to do during his summer holidays. He has been here ever since, and continued his studies on a part-time basis during his first few years with us. Shortly after that, he became our official Sales Manager, taking care of customer requirements and liaising with foreign distributors. James also works closely with Jez assisting in the day-to-day running of the company. The similarity of his name to the Company's name causes endless confusion to our suppliers, and we often receive letters and packages addressed to James Cairn, or - more worryingly - to Kerin Research. If you should receive an invoice payable to Kerin Research then please let us know!
Jeremy Graham (Jez) joined us early in 1992. Until then, Martin had been doing all the design work by himself, and Adrian and James did the building. Jez, a chemistry graduate from Bath University, was taken on originally to help Martin with research and development. Since then he has also become increasingly involved in customer technical support and in the day-to-day running of the Company. He is likely to be your contact for advice on imaging in general and CCD cameras in particular. As well as becoming Company Secretary in 1998 (and more recently a Director), he is trying to find time to study for an MBA. He is also a fervent Liverpool supporter, which ensures a (usually) friendly rivalry with James, who for some unaccountable reason supports Arsenal.
Dallas Rush (Dal) joined us a few months after Jez. He had been about to become a casualty of the policies of his then employer, and Martin offered him a job in a moment of weakness one evening when they were having a drink in the local pub (drinking is becoming a very expensive pastime nowadays). Dal has extensive electronic engineering repair and test experience, and he looks after these things for Cairn now. He has also taken over much of the general building in a practical and supervisory role.
Andrew Hill, an electronic engineering graduate from the University of Kent Medical Electronics Department, has been with us since July 1995. He is involved, with Martin, in the electronic design of new products, the development of new hardware and the upgrading of existing circuit boards. He was also responsible for developing the Windows version of our fluorescence software, which has recently evolved (to his dismay) into more-or-less a full time role. Andy is usually the best point of contact for OEM software development issues and writes and maintains support code for integrating our equipment with software from other sources.
Neil Sims, now our Production Manager, was taken on at the beginning of 1996. Neil comes from an engineering background, and in addition to some computer and design work, now takes personal responsibility for much of our specialist manufacture, including our flash photolysis system and high intensity light source. He also looks after many of our component ordering and product shipping arrangements.
Wendy Jones broke a long-standing Cairn tradition at the end of 1998, by becoming our first female employee. Wendy keeps the books, pays the bills and chases our invoices for us. She has already learned how to strike terror into the hearts of our customers' finance departments, while simultaneously assuring our suppliers that "the cheque is in the post" and will arrive by Friday. Wendy also excels in unarmed combat, so we have to stay on the right side of her as well.
Dr. Martyn Reynolds joined us at the beginning of November 2000. He had seen the job vacancy on this web site and in a moment of madness decided to apply. Martyn did his first degree in physics, and then obtained a Ph.D. with Prof. Peter McNaughton on calcium conductance regulation in photoreceptors, followed by postdoctoral research on calcium regulation in a number of other unsuspecting tissues. This background, together with his strong interest in the technical aspects of research, made him uniquely well qualified for the position, leaving us with no plausible excuse to turn him away. As well as providing expert advice to customers, Martyn is also rapidly getting involved in our R & D programme, and we're already wondering how we managed to cope without him (but perhaps we weren't, as things had been getting more than a little busy).
Dominique Rogers had already been working for us one day a week for a while, so she has only herself to blame for now including the other four. She has been with us full-time since June 2001. When she started with us, her main job was as a local hairdresser, but we managed to persuade her that cutting the wires off components wasn't so very different, and it looks like we've succeeded there. Apart from the occasional tendency to try and work up a good lather with the circuit board cleaning solvents, she has adapted very well to her new occupation. We're selling so many light sources nowadays that she currently spends most of her time helping to build those, but we're also introducing her to some organisational tasks such as compiling a proper database for keeping track of equipment modifications and repairs.
Gary Richards is yet another home-grown product, as we got to know him through his father, who for once we did NOT meet via the usual connections. His father runs a local steel working business, and he constructed the internal floor and upstairs offices in our current premises. But obviously the concept of a bit of decent hard work didn't appeal to Gary, as rather than following in the family footsteps he decided to go to Canterbury University instead, from which he graduated in June 2001 with a degree in computing. He's been working with us full-time since then, although again he has only himself to blame, as he'd already been helping us out during his holidays for a couple of years, so he should have known what he was in for. As part of the deal, we promised him an office, but space here is really tight at the moment, so the one we gave him is a bit on the small size as the photo shows. Gary has been working with Andy on further software development, and he also helps look after the computer network.
