Spotlight on Sally Lugg
Sally has been part of the Petalite journey since the very early days, playing a critical role in reaching many of Petalite’s important milestones to date.
In our latest employee interview, as part of the ‘spotlight series’, Sally shares her experiences of joining a rapidly scaling business.
What brought you to Petalite?
I joined Petalite in the autumn of 2020; back then we were a team of only twelve. I’d come from the corporate sector – I’d been contracting for many years – but the market went flat during the pandemic. I found a position at Petalite through LinkedIn and, after a couple of conversations with the team, I took on the role of Project Manager.
The shift from the corporate sector to this innovative startup was night and day; Petalite offered a refreshing change. The team’s passion for the company's mission was infectious, and I was eager to be part of a team with such a clear and impactful vision. Everyone could see the potential of what they were working on and were driven to make it a reality. It was a welcome departure from being just another cog in a large organisation.
What’s been your role at Petalite so far?
When I joined, Petalite had recently won three significant Innovate UK projects that were all due to start imminently. I was there to manage both the finances and engineering efforts to make our involvement a success. It was a plunge into the deep end. I’d never worked with Innovate UK before and, given the stage of Petalite’s journey, we didn’t have any previous examples or precedents to use as a guide. Petalite had previously participated in a smaller project but stepping up as the lead partner on two of the next three was a new challenge for us all.
How has Petalite evolved since you arrived?
The growth has been massive. We’re working from a bigger facility with much more space for developing the technology and we’re now over fifty strong – I can’t believe it. What’s fantastic is that we’ve managed to find great people with the necessary skills and the right personalities. With so many colleagues joining in such a short space of time, it’s a credit to all involved that everyone believes in the shared vision and we all pull in the same direction to make it happen.
With additional funding secured, my role has expanded to encompass broader financial responsibilities. This has all been new to me and I’ve enjoyed the learning curve as we gear up to bring our next-generation charging solution to market.
What has been your biggest achievement at Petalite to date?
The recent completion of the ULTRA project stands out as the biggest achievement for me to date. It is a huge milestone for Petalite that was over three years in the making.
When we started, we were confident – but didn’t know for sure – that we could get the necessary power from our DC power supplies, the Power Cores. Our mission to revolutionise electric vehicle charging hinged on our ability to increase the energy density from 5.4 kW to closer to 20 kW.
The successful conclusion is a testament to the dedication and talent of our entire team. It wasn’t without its challenges but that's the nature of doing things that haven’t been done before. For me, personally, it’s been brilliant to be involved from start to finish and to see the impact the that the project investment has had on Petalite.
What are you most looking forward to over the next 12 months?
Looking ahead, the FFLIP project is the next significant milestone on the horizon. We’ll soon be taking the technological advancements from the ULTRA project and applying them, for the first time, in a real-world charging application.
Comparing where we were when I joined, to where we’ll be when we complete FFLIP, it’s amazing. We’ll be within touching distance of realising the solution we set out to build when I joined. It’ll be the culmination of years of hard work, and we'll be on the cusp of achieving something truly groundbreaking.