Andrew Gaule talks to Phil Smith, chief executive, Cisco Systems, UK and Ireland, and non-executive chairman, Innovate UK

Give a brief introduction to your role within Cisco and Innovate UK?

When I joined Cisco 22 years ago I think there were 10 people in the UK and now there is 7,000 or so, so it is a significantly bigger company that has come through quite a lot of change. Obviously my role now as chief executive of UK and Ireland is basically being responsible for everything that goes on in the UK and Ireland, not only the sales…