Circuit Innovations

Taking your electronics ideas and turning them into reality

The story so far......                                                                                                                                                                         

Circuit Innovations was founded in 2000 by Richard Tanfield.

From an early age, Richard had an interest in all things mechanical and electrical and how they worked. In 1982, at the age of 14, he and a colleague represented Easingwold School at the Young Engineer for Britain competition. They won their regional heat and went on to take part in the national finals, held over three days at Wembley Conference Centre.

Richard started to take an interest in electronics while his school pal continued with mechanical engineering. He started designing and building his own circuits and gadgets and even started designing and making his own printed circuit boards, etching them in the kitchen sink! He was an avid reader of Everyday Practical Electronics magazine and even went on to write a couple of construction projects for them.

Richard began his career working for Farnell Instruments as a Test and Service Engineer. His work involved the test and repair of switch-mode power supplies, mostly used in the telecom industry for powering telephone exchanges and the rapidly expanding mobile phone base stations for Cellnet and Orange (who remembers them?). The company changed hands and names a couple of times and was eventually bought by APC, an American manufacturer of uninterruptable power supplies. In his spare time, Richard had already started designing and building circuits for himself and for customers. In 2000 he took the leap, gave up his day job and started Circuit Innovations.

Circuit Innovations began slowly but soon established a range of popular products and began building regular orders for a range of customers. Many of these designs seem to have gravitated towards motorsports with rally timers and quickshifters being a source of regular orders. This wasn't an intentional choice, rather a choice made by customers who liked the robust design and reliability of Circuit Innovations products.

Richard now runs Circuit innovations in his spare time and also has a 'proper job' to go to. He gained valuable experience in RF design and construction after working part-time for York EMC Services, a company created by York University and now part of Eurofins Scientific. He also gained his EngTech qualification and became a member of the IET while working there. He now works as Senior Engineer at Tele-Products Ltd., a York-based company manufacturing and calibrating PAT testing products and telecom caller ID products. Richard's experience is put to good use, designing automated test and calibration equipment, writing software to help improve manufacturing output and coming up with new ideas and designing new products.

In his spare time, Richard is co-organiser of 'Rockin' All Over The Wold', an annual beer and music festival held in Easingwold to help support local businesses and community organisations, and to also raise money for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity. Richard also helps out at the local community centre, The Galtes Centre, where he helps as a lighting and sound technician for the Galtres Entertainment Centre theatre.

Richard Tanfield, EngTech, TMIET