Ian Calder-Potts, director and founder of Calder, visited the London Stock Exchange and No. 10 Downing Street as part of a reception for those companies recognised in the LSEG report, 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain. The following is Ian’s personal account of the day.
“What a privilege, not only to be included in the 2017 edition of ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ for the third time, but additionally to be invited to visit the great London Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, followed by a reception at No. 10 Downing Street, all in one morning.
The day started at 07:30 when a powerful group of inspirational speakers lined up to talk to the 150 assembled guests. The group, which included Xavier Rolet KBE, CEO London Stock Exchange Group, The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, Secretary of State for Industry, all brought home to me the extraordinarily dynamic and powerful nature of Britain’s vibrant SME ‘community.’

- Of the 1000 companies selected, the average growth for the financial year was 70%.
- Of all the SME’s in Europe, more than 1/5 are in the UK.
- SMEs are the lifeblood of the British economy; creating up to 2/3 of all new jobs, they account for 60% of all private sector employment and 47% of all private sector turnover in the UK.
- 2016 created 650,000 start-up firms in the UK.
My personal highlight of the day was entering the most recognised door in the world, 10 Downing Street, then slowly making my way upstairs to the main reception rooms whilst admiring the portrait of every great (and some not so great) Prime Minister since the inception of our precious and ancient democracy, a rare privilege indeed. Thank you, Prime Minister.
At No. 10 we enjoyed an inspirational talk from the impressive Gareth Davies, Director General for Business and Science.
My sincere thanks to those who made this once in a lifetime visit to the London Stock Exchange and No. 10 Downing Street a reality.
- Our customers who have loyally backed Calder over the years.
- Our great suppliers who have delivered good quality products and services on time.
- And the great Calder team of the last 36 years who have safely conceived, engineered, designed, marketed, sold, built, manufactured, purchased, tested, quality managed, documented, ensured compliance, commissioned, serviced (far from home in remote corners of the world), managed, fetched, delivered and all the myriad of essential functions required in the day-to-day operations of a great company.
After the excitement of the morning at LSEG and Downing Street, I walked to meet with my wife Jilly on the terrace of Somerset House overlooking the Thames. Over a light lunch and cold beer in the warm London sunshine we reminisced about our 36 years since arriving to live in this fabulous country and the many wonderful people we have had the honour and privilege of meeting and working with.
There are undoubtedly serious challenges our country, people and companies face in the coming months and years. I am convinced that common sense and the indomitable British spirit will prevail as this great country continues on the highway of democracy and fairness for all whilst maintaining our precious sovereignty as the adventure of Brexit begins.”
Calder will remain in the vanguard of SME’s delivering our High Pressure Pump Packages to our customers around the world.
- Two ATEX Zone 2 Vacuum Packages Completed
- Ringing the Bell
- ONS 2022, Stavanger, Norway
- Worcester 10K City Run 2022
- Thermal Testing and Pumping System for Geothermal Energy Recovery
- HPHT Wash Water Skids – build progressing well
- Order for Bespoke Subsea Pump Package
- New high pressure pump collected and operating the same morning
- Paint Shop Cleaning System Despatched
- Where will we be in three years?
- Eco-friendly cleaning in food & beverage production
- ONS 2022 – we’ll be there!
- New customer benefits from the Calder complete life-cycle philosophy
- Video case study – pump skid for existing platform
- Dry dock time reduced using high pressure water
- Repeat order for an offshore, DNV 2.7-2 vacuum unit
- Civil engineering company finds a better way to clean formwork
- Manufacturer to replace chemical cleaning with high pressure water
- We are forty – photo album
- New Operations Manager
- 150 offshore MultiJets manufactured
- Repeat order for Fast Fill Pressure Test Cabin
- David Abbatiello Retires
- Returning customer orders electric pump skid
- Calder is forty years old!
- Further success for our OffshoreLITE range
- Lee Watkins appointed Managing Director
- Rupert Knowles appointed Head of Engineering
- ATEX Zone 1 hot water jetting unit ready for despatch
- High Above the Streets of London
- Work starts on two hot water jetting units for ATEX Zone 1 operation.
- Order for Aquaculture high pressure pump units.
- The Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project – Hydrodemolition
- Calder to Build Pressure Equalisation Pump for BP Hod.
- NQA Recertification.
- Despatch of ATEX and NORSOK Waterjetting Pump and Vacuum Units.
- Remote Factory Acceptance Test
- Covid 19 – We are still open and operating.
- Over 40 pumps purchased in ten years.
- Order for HPHT Wash Water Skid.
- Veolia orders high pressure pump unit for industrial cleaning applications.
- Returning customer orders a complete surface preparation system
- High pressure pump unit for subsea tool applications
- Malt Screen Wash Pump Despatched for the Brewing Industry
- Customer Adds to Their Fleet of Calder Pump Units
- Yet another order secured for our HPHT and base oil washdown packages.
- Ammlee Group blasts almost 70m³ of concrete from Belfast Harbour with Calder MultiJet
- Work starts on ATEX and NORSOK Waterjetting Pump and Vacuum Units
- Design starts on two MEG Injection packages for FPSO
- Work starts on five chemical injection packages
- One-size-fits-all TST kit
- ISO 45001 – Occupational Health & Safety Management System
- Six Hydro Jetting Pump Units for Plant Maintenance Company in Middle East
- Two electrically powered, high pressure, pump units ready for GA Drilling
- Work Starts on Oxy Scavenger Injection Pump for Offshore, ATEX Zone 2 Environment
- GOST/RTN-compliant cuttings re-injection units.
- Washdown pump skids designed and manufactured in accordance with CSA and CRN requirements.
- Nuclear washdown skid
- Pressure equalisation pump unit for Valhall Flank West
- Shell take collection of a lightweight, compact, hydraulically driven, high pressure chemical injection package
- Large order for Johan Sverdrup highlights the benefits of the PG/Calder relationship
- Energy company orders a lightweight, compact, hydraulically driven, high pressure chemical injection package
- Hammelmann High Pressure Technology Symposium
- Lightweight units to suit the needs of the offshore industry
- A fleet of lightweight, compact air compressors for hazardous environment operation
- MEG Injection pump package with twin variable stroke pumps
- Work starts on MEG pump package for the Nova tie-back to Gjøa Project
- Final checks for this robust offshore unit
- Work Starts on Pump Unit for Subsea Coatings Removal
- More power for Middle East petrochemical customers
- BOP testing system en route to drillship
- Venetian Bridge, Clacton Selective concrete removal, paint removal, and concrete preparation
- Billy Campbell – New Industrial Sales Manager.
- Retirement for Julian – a new chapter begins.
- Downhole chemical injection unit for hydrate control during well start-up operations.
- SafeContractor approved for our food and automotive industry work.
- A new MultiJet and “the largest concrete repair project …”
- Drillship BOP Test System
- High ambient temp. vacuum for FPSO waste recovery
- …making excellence a habit ™
- Variable Stroke Methanol Injection Skid
- Investors in People – Silver Award
- Outstanding Vendor Award
- Offshore Europe 2017
- New Recruit for Service Team
- Tier IV Waterjet Trailer Unit for Automotive Work
- A Visit to Downing Street
- Calder recognised in fourth edition of London Stock Exchange Group’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ report.
- Customer Very Happy with New External Tube Bundle Cleaner
- Waterjet Pump Units for Nuclear Decontamination
- Work Starts on a Compact, Twin, Variable Stroke Methanol Pump Skid
- Another successful exhibition in Busan
- 2 x HPHT Methanol Injection Packages Despatched to North Sea Customer
- MultiVac DNV 2.7-2 Compliant Vacuum Unit – Designed, Built, Tested, and Despatched
- New Calder Stage 4/Tier IV High Pressure Water Jetting Trailer Unit
- Lightweight Offshore Pump Package for Well Service Customer
- Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) Exhibition in Stavanger, Norway
- Verify certification with good scores
- New Markets for High Pressure Pumps – Aquaculture
- Offshore Arabia 2016
- Calder recognised as “Company to Inspire Britain” in annual LSEG report
- PG Flow Solutions Product Training
- Augean Purchase Onshore and Offshore Ultra-High Pressure Units
- Calder Launch BundlePro Range
- PG Flow Solutions and Calder join forces
- The Parliamentary Review – A Year In Perspective
- Offshore Europe 2015 exhibition – decommissioning talking point
- Zone II High Pressure Jetting Package with NORSOK Option Module
- Celebrating 30 Years of Service
- 1,800 kW Waste Injection Package
- Lightweight Compact Offshore Vacuum Package
- Self-contained Well Intervention Package en route to Aberdeen
- UK Concrete Show, Birmingham, UK
- Four Air-driven Pneumatic Chemical Injection Packages for North Sea Platform
- 6 weeks to design, manufacture and test a chemical injection pump package
- Offshore Korea Exhibition
- Calder Delivers Containerised High Flow Zone II Jetting Unit
- Versatile Jetters for Offshore Well Abandonment
- Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) Exhibition in Stavanger, Norway
- NORSOK, DNV Compliant Well Service Pump Packages for Offshore Norway
- BSI Award
- Site Trailer High Pressure Jetting Unit
- Design Solution in a Tank
- Multi-purpose High Pressure Well Service Package
- Hazardous Area Pump Package for Unmanned Platform
- Hazardous Area High Temperature Washdown Unit
- Calder recognised as “Company to Inspire Britain” in new LSEG report
- A successful show and a purchase order to boot!
- Fisher Offshore
- Atex ZONE 1 Hot Wash
- Heli-portable well service units
- Sabre Jetting of Birmingham
- Progressive Technical Services back Calder’s MultiJet
- Veolia Environmental Services expand their Calder fleet
- Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) Energy Fair, Conference and Exhibition in Stavanger, Norway
- Hydro Demolition Units
- Methanol Injection Package for Norwegian Well Intervention Vessel
- UK Sector Offshore- Chemical Injection Packages
- Lord Jones of Birmingham opens new Calder manufacturing facility.
- Calder calls for school leavers to be better equipped for the world of work.