Quintessa was founded by David Hodgkinson in March 1999 with the vision of providing an enjoyable and fulfilling working environment in which talented scientists and mathematicians could use their problem-solving skills to help clients address key issues.
David used experience gained working at the European Centre for Nuclear Research, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and Intera Information Technologies to establish Quintessa. As Quintessa’s Managing Director, David oversaw the Company’s growth to more than 20 employees offering services covering decision support, geosciences, materials modelling, mathematics, risk assessment and software development together with the provision of customised training in all these areas.
David had a firm belief that allowing employees to contribute to all aspects of Quintessa would allow better decisions to be made by drawing on their knowledge and experience. He therefore decided to establish Quintessa as an employee-owned business. For the first 15 years employees held shares directly in the company, but in July 2014 all shares in Quintessa were transferred to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) that holds these shares for the benefit of all employees. The purpose of the EOT is to provide a sustainable future for Quintessa as an independent company with an employee-owned ethos.
Since the beginning of Quintessa, David has worked hard to promote and inspire others with the benefits of employee ownership, supporting the Employee Ownership Association (EOA), meeting with other companies thinking of introducing employee ownership, and advising Government on how best to promote this as an alternative company structure. His work in this area was deservedly recognised in 2015 when he was named Employee Owner of the Year by the EOA.
In January 2016, David stepped down and became the Company’s Honorary Chairman and is now a Trustee Director on the board of Quintessa’s Employee Ownership Trust.