Former ace Jaguar Land Rover designer turns entrepreneur
17 Jul 2019 | 5296 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Ian Callum, Jaguar’s award-winning designer who earlier this year left the carmaker after a 20-year innings, has made his next move and it is an entrepreneurial one. He is amongst the founding members of Callum, a new design and engineering business that will create bespoke and limited-edition products across the ...
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Ian Callum, Jaguar’s award-winning designer who earlier this year left the carmaker after a 20-year innings, has made his next move and it is an entrepreneurial one. He is amongst the founding members of Callum, a new design and engineering business that will create bespoke and limited-edition products across the sectors of design, lifestyle and travel.
Callum, according to the company, is “a collaboration of talented and experienced individuals with a desire to invent, intrigue and excite.” The other three founding members of Callum are David Fairbairn, programme director, who has more than 18 years’ experience in the automotive industry and includes the recreation of the Jaguar Lightweight E-Type amongst his career highlights. Adam Donfrancesco, engineering director, is a prolific design engineer whose accomplishments include road and race cars for Noble, the Aston Martin GT8 and GT12, and Jaguar’s F-Type GT4. Tom Bird, commercial director, has gained extensive experience at PWC, Barclays and Jaguar Land Rover, working on global business expansion and special projects, including the Jaguar C-X75 and its iconic movie appearance.
Callum’s expansive 20,000 square foot facility in Warwick, UK houses the latest in design, engineering and manufacturing technology, enabling the design and creation of bespoke products in-house. Details of the first Callum project are to be released in the coming weeks.
Mantra of designing the alternative
“I wanted to get back to the essence of creativity; the challenge of producing something wonderful and personal,” explains design director Ian Callum. “To design the alternative has always been my mantra, but always the beautiful alternative and something to enjoy. In today’s modern world, collaboration is the catalyst for new ideas, and this is our ethos and inspiration, both within our team and as we look to work with partners in the future. Callum is an exciting new chapter that will focus on ‘Journeys to Destinations’, and all that encompasses.”
“Callum brings together highly-experienced, skilled and enthusiastic people that share the same want – the opportunity and freedom to create and produce products that excite,” adds David Fairbairn, programme director. “We love what we do, and we have the passion, collective experience and know-how to create some very special, diverse products across design, lifestyle and travel.”