Richard Longdon received his engineering training in the defense industry and gained experience in project management of high value engineering projects.
He moved into sales and held a series of international sales and marketing positions before joining AVEVA in 1984. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Longdon was made marketing manager for process products. In January 1992, he relocated to Frankfurt to set up and run the group's German office. He returned to the UK as part of the management buyout team in 1994, taking responsibility for the group's worldwide sales and marketing activities, before being appointed managing director in May 1999. He took over as group chief executive in December 1999.
