Sam Bernard

Developing physical products that stand out from the mass of commodity items that surround us is difficult. Creating and developing innovative ideas takes both time and inspiration yet there are paths that have been proven to be successful time after time. Once the idea is formed then there are many pitfalls through the development process that need to be avoided to get to manufacture. Cost, quality, performance, industrial design and the right manufacturing partners can all present issues if not considered during development. To maintain the direction and speed teams need to be structured to ensure that all the right skills are available, whether internal or outsourced, and the team must be able to communicate effectively. Sam Bernard has navigated these paths many times over a 25 year career as Global Product Development Director at Dyson where he latterly was responsible for the haircare portfolio; and as CTO at Pure Electric setting up the engineering team and delivering innovative e-scooters to market. He has setup 52 Degrees North in order to provide advice and these services to companies wishing to make products that they can be proud of. Startups needing to plan and manage their first physical product development within time, spec and cost, including making the most of innovate UK grants and business plan creation. Scaleups needing to embed in trusted engineering and design practices or to bring strategy into their future product portfolio. Including: team structure and capabilities, development process and milestones, and manufacturing routes. Established companies who need to nurture a culture of innovation to allow them to stand out from the commodity products everyone else is producing. Or companies with senior level roles leading research, engineering or product development, including interim positions.