BOLD’s High Voltage Battery Systems Transforming Motorsport Tech
BOLD Valuable Technology offer a range of high voltage battery systems for high performance applications and provide engineering and design services for automotive, aerospace, marine, and motorsport sectors. Originally founded in Spain, BOLD now has over 130 engineers, with 20 of those based in the UK at Heyford Park Innovation Centre. We spoke to Paul Else, Director of People & Talent Acquisition at BOLD, about the company’s growth in the last four years and how they are finding Heyford Park Innovation Centre after making it their first hub in the UK in April 2023.
What does BOLD Valuable Technology do and why was the company started?
BOLD Valuable Technologies was started in 2019 by Bernat Carreras because he wanted to help build a more sustainable world. He was designing battery systems in Formula 1 and when looking for suppliers for various components and parts, he realised there weren’t enough companies doing the level of technical engineering in that space that was needed. So, he set up BOLD Valuable Technology to drive that forward and make this F1 technology available at scale.
Our business develops battery systems for future mobility in automotive, motorsport, aviation, and aerospace. We’re essentially trying to develop the best batteries in class. We try to take that advanced technology and make it much more available to businesses so that we can really drive forward the electrification of mobility around the world to help sustainability.
How has BOLD grown since it was founded in 2019?
We’ve gone from nothing 4 years ago to a facility in Barcelona with 105 people in it, developing advanced battery systems that are being sent to some of the biggest companies in the world. And then here in the UK, we’ve now got this office space in Heyford Park Innovation Centre. We have around 20 engineers here and we’re supplying some of the most prestigious automotive and motorsport companies in the world with engineering services and support.
How long have you been at Heyford Park Innovation Centre and why did you choose Heyford Park for your start-up business?
We’ve been at Heyford Park Innovation Centre since April 2023. We chose the centre predominantly due to its location because this area has been the hub of engineering going back 100 years and I think it’s unrivalled around the world for the infrastructure, the access to talent, the access to facilities that you can get here for the motorsport sector.
Of the four or five options that we looked at in the area, Heyford Park Innovation Centre offered everything we needed. Our UK business wasn’t as established as our Barcelona business, so we didn’t have the infrastructure. Heyford Park Innovation Centre offered all of that for us. There can be so many headaches and so many things to consider when you’re starting a new business and the team at Heyford Park Innovation Centre take away some of those small but time-consuming problems. Internet access, office furniture, cleaning of the office, heating, lighting, signing for packages, security, information about local events – I get one invoice at the end of the month, and it solves a million problems. The location was the first attraction but once we saw the services that they offered, it was an easy decision for us.
How has Heyford Park Innovation Centre helped your business to grow?
Heyford Park Innovation Centre has really helped our business grow. We were a 100% remote business in the UK prior to moving into the centre, but we had customers and engineers in the UK so one of our concerns about establishing our presence in the UK was that we didn’t have a hub here. It’s really important to us to show our commitment to growing our UK business and having this office that has been so professional from day one because of the services they offer, allowing us to give assurance and confidence to the people that we employ and the clients that we work with.
Heyford Park Innovation Centre becomes an extension of your company and does a lot of things for you that you need as a small business. It takes a lot of the day-to-day issues away from you while you focus on whatever it is you do as a business. I don’t think we could have done it without the support of Heyford Park. Trudy, Kirsty and the team support us with everything we need so it wouldn’t be possible without them, they really do feel like part of our team.
What is next for BOLD? What ambitions do you have for the future?
This year we want to continue to drive on what we’ve achieved in 2023. We’ve got some fantastic clients here in the UK and around the world and we want to continue to deliver the best service for them and the engineering services business.
Find out more about BOLD here: https://boldvaluable.tech/
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