The next time a high-end sports car overtakes you on the motorway or you watch a Formula One race, remember that you will probably have just seen Ricardo’s products in action.
From the transmission on the Bugatti Veyron, the world’s fastest road car, to F1 engines, Ricardo is among a small group of niche engineers that can produce the type of precision gizmos needed in the world of high-performance vehicles.
This only scratches the surface of the industries the 101-year-old company now plays in, having first made its mark manufacturing the engines for First World War tanks.
Under Dave Shemmans, its chief executive, Ricardo operates across a bewildering range of sectors and through a series of recent acquisitions has become a leading consultant on