Meet the MD: Soil Machine Dynamics' Paul Davison on theory vs practice, staying ahead of the curve and boosting growth in the region

Paul Davison began his working life in academia but quickly sought out opportunities for professional growth within industry.

After meeting the founder of Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD) at university, Paul went on to lead the firm through a period of significant growth.

Paul spoke to Bdaily about the firm’s academic origin, his passion for supporting industrial growth in the region and plans for the future.

Can you tell the readers about yourself first of all - i.e. your background, where you are from etc?

“I’m Paul Davison, the managing director for equipment at Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD). I live in Morpeth with my wife and two daughters who grew up in the town.

“I was born in Byker and my claim to fame is my house was demolished for the Byker Wall development in the early 1970s, which was and still is a unique and novel social experiment in community living.

“I went to Kenton School in Newcastle, completed my first degree at Newcastle University and my second degree at Bath University. I enjoyed academic life and engineering theory but wanted to test myself in a real job.

“SMD founder Dr Alan Reece was a lecturer at Newcastle and each year would seek out a handful of graduates to bolster his team. Many of the SMD co-founders were ex-lecturers, Alan’s research staff or students. I joined in 1994.

“A handful of my graduating year group was at SMD when I joined, and Roger White, my chief engineer, is still here today. We’ve known each other since 1989, longer than some marriages.”

What does your role entail?

“Equipment sales contribute around £50m to the group revenue and helps to finance the rolling research and development investments behind our technology plans.

“My role is to ensure we deliver the best kit and service in our market to maintain our brand reputation. Our clients and the wider market know and trust SMD and it’s my job to embed that trust for the long term.

“I make sure we deliver what we promise and support our clients so they get the true value from their investment. As we grow in our core markets (telecoms, offshore wind) we have new clients and new opportunities whilst we explore emerging markets (deep water mining and advanced survey).

“There is a lot to go at and each segment has a different business cycle, so staying ahead of the cycle is important.”

When was SMD set up, and how has it grown since then?

“2021 is our 50th anniversary year. SMD began as a private family-owned business, a spin-off from Newcastle University.

“It is now owned by CRRC, a state owned enterprise listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. It is based in Zhouzou in Hunan province and our 300 staff are part of a wider team of 180,000.

“Since 1971, some of the original SMD team have formed very successful local businesses, IHC/EB and OSBIT to name but two, and there is a strong community in the North East region for subsea excellence in design and manufacture.

“SMD has contributed to the North East’s international reputation and this local community supports many highly skilled jobs and growth opportunities in the region.”

What is it about your organisation that motivates and excites you the most?

“We remain a technology and solutions business. Listening to a client with an idea and ambition, then turning that into a fantastic piece of engineering and seeing it work successfully for many years is very rewarding. It’s why I started my engineering career some 30 years ago.

“I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing businesses succeed and grow with our kit and our people helping along the way.

“Our global reach means we’re able to create opportunities for our team and to see individuals develop and grow in often very tricky and stressful situations, is equally rewarding.

“We ask a lot of our people and it is humbling how much they are prepared to help to do the right thing.

Looking back on the past year, what has been your biggest achievement?

“We continue to invest in our team and their professional and personal development. My first exposure to 360 evaluation was quite an experience and it’s been very helpful to give clarity and purpose in your work.

“I believe that work must have a purpose. It’s been very rewarding for me and to see my team go through the same process, and want to improve how they work has been great. I thoroughly recommend it.

What have been your biggest challenges during your time at SMD so far, and how have you overcome them?

“Being able to respond to the ups and downs of offshore project life cycles and demands is always challenging.

“We manage this by diversifying as much as possible to have three or four overlapping revenue cycles.

“As a technology business, we’ve got to work out what are the best investments and when to deploy them.”

What does the future hold for your company? Any exciting projects in the pipeline we should know about?

“Offshore wind continues to be a local and national success story and it makes up to 50 per cent of our business.

“The rate at which offshore wind has become a mainstay of the UK energy mix is a significant achievement. We see this growth continuing, exporting our know-how and expertise internationally.

“We also have to plan for the future of oil and gas post-COVID-19 and low price oil. We remain positive our technology is even more valid for reducing operating costs and will be looking to launch our all-electric product ranges this year and next.”