Business chills out

Over the last 30 years it has evolved significantly, spinning out of Oxford University through pioneers such as Martin Wood, Frank Thornton and Colin Hillier, and being instrumental in the development of companies such as Oxford Instruments, where magnets are kept super-cool by using liquid helium.

The engineering side of the industry involves the building of the freezers each costing up to £20,000 and installing the stainless steel pipework capable of carrying the liquid nitrogen, helium, hydrogen or nitrous oxide which is instrumental in the freezing process.

And this is where Didcot-based Thames Cryogenics comes in to prepare the engineering infrastructure for this rapidly evolving technology.

Engineering director Mark Evans said: "Oxfordshire is the cryogenic version of silicon valley it covers a vast spectrum of industries."

Thames Cryogenics was set up in 1985 by Mr Evans, Tom Killen, Geoff Lewis and John Quelch after Frank Thornton's Thor Cryogenics moved from Berinsfield to Derby.

It operated from a tiny unit in Drayton before moving to its current site on Didcot's Southmead Industrial Park.

Growth has been steady, with demand from the biotech industry spiralling in recent years for the storage of cell and blood samples involved in areas such as cancer research.

These can be stored for up to 50 years in vapour form inside freezers, often located in unmanned units. Although some research has gone into the storage of human remains, Mr Evans points out that we are not in Jurassic Park yet.' But biotech is a buoyant market and Thames Cryogenics has enjoyed considerable success at home and abroad in countries such as Chile, Australia and Malaysia.

Turnover is now £2.3m a year and the company has an office in the Netherlands.

Competition from the Far East has not yet materialised, although there are rumours, but the level of expertise required in this field would be hard to attain quickly.

Mr Evans said: "We have a very stable UK and North European market and can rely on that for our bread and butter.

"We are also trying to set up long-term relationships with companies in Hong Kong."

Thames Cryogenics is also able to piggy back' on contracts won by one of its main clients, gas company BOC, but Mr Evans says that success comes through a focus on quality and attention to detail.

He added: "If we have a report of a problem, we are there in 24 hours it is not a service we advertise but it happens as a matter of course."

But to maintain that service requires a dedicated workforce and this is one of what Mr Evans describes as his main bones of contention.' He said: "If you look at the practical trades which are being offered and taught in this country, it is a disgrace.

"Nine out of 10 of the school and college leavers we see are just not interested in learning a trade.

"All they want is a pay packet at the end of the week and that disappoints me so much."

Mr Evans blames the decline of the old apprenticeship system at the end of the 1970s, which he himself went through with UKAEA at Harwell.

Academics do not tend to be suitable for work at Thames Cryogenics and Mr Evans says one of his best workers was formerly a labourer on a building site and is now a workshop supervisor.

He added: "He wanted to learn and actually applied himself to the job and has the ability to problem solve. We need people with the right attitude and you can usually tell whether that is the case within five minutes of meeting them."

But undeniably the future looks bright for the cryogenic industry. The next big development could be hydrogen-powered cars, a project BMW has been heavily involved with.

These vehicles are emission-free, the only by-product being water, and already hydrogen filling stations are being built an area which would be ideal for a company with the expertise of TVC. It seems a key area where the UK's industrial future is in safe hands.

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