Spark-plug maker Johnson Matthey is a breath of fresh air for all of us "We're positioned in markets where we think there's structural growth driven by the environment and environmental legislation," says Carson. That approach has delivered a £5 bn market value and profits at its last year-end of £260 m, an increase of 14 pc. In a flat car market for example, we would still get growth because in various regions around the world the legislation is saying 'we have to have cleaner cars'. We have a third of the world market. We're a very science-based business and we are striving to make a better catalyst, a smaller catalyst that will save people money and make money for us. But precious metals remain at the heart of the business. That's the place to start. The thread that runs through all our divisions is precious metals. Spinning out of that have come the environmental technologies and fine chemicals divisions. One crucial fact to know about Johnson Matthey's precious metals divisions, and why it has such a strong position in catalytic converters, is that it has the sole marketing agency deal with the world's leading platinum miner - AngloAmerican Platinum. We've had that agreement for 80 years. They wanted us to distribute their metal and, through the market, keep inventing new applications for its metal. They have by far the most assets in terms of platinum-bearing ground. If we can grow the market ahead of GDP they can dig up more metal and make more money. Johnson Matthey's success in catalytic convertors, which use platinum as a key catalytic agent cutting out poisonous gases from our cars, was spawned in the 1970s when the residents of Los Angeles finally had to admit that for 40 days a year they couldn't go outside because of the poisonous particles floating in the air from car emissions. The authorities said that in five years cars had to be very much cleaner. If not, car makers wouldn't be allowed to sell in the state. That sort of legislation spread to the rest of America, then Japan and then Europe in 1993. In 2007 the legislation moved to the diesel engines of trucks and similar environmental legislation on engine emissions is rolling out across different types of transport, for instance boats, and across new markets, such as China, all providing further demand for Johnson Matthey's convertors. The biggest customer for our precious metals division is the environmental technologies division making convertors. They are joined at the hip. If processing platinum and making catalytic converters on the back of the low carbon boom wasn't enough, the company's expertise in handling precious metals and tricky technology has led it into a third area; fine chemicals. We make active pharmaceutical ingredients. We are licensed in the UK to make pain killers out of opiates. Which seems quite a long way from platinum and precious metals. We got into that because a scientist in our precious metals division was working with a university developing a drug called carboplatin which is a platinum molecule that can be used to treat ovarian and lung cancer. We brought that to market with Bristol-Myers Squibb. We thought we could do more with the kit. So we looked for a market with less competitors in it and which was technically complicated so we got into the opiates area. Johnson Matthey's background in precious metals meant it was already good at security. The regulator likes to know you're not going to lose the raw material. We take that raw opiate and supply the drug companies with the white powder, or clear liquid, which they turn into a pill and then distribute. Johnson Matthey spends about £140 m a year just on research and development, much of which is spent on improving the quality and efficiency of its converters. It carries out fundamental research and much of that goes on at its UK R&D base. Soon that won't be the case. We're looking to branch out. We can't get enough scientists into the country anymore. The Government won't let them in," says Carson. The problem is the UK's increasingly restrictive visa rules for non-European workers. Although it doesn't plan to cut numbers in the UK, expansion in R&D will be focused in Asia, probably Singapore where the company faces less bureaucracy in hiring overseas workers. But growth, whether its driven from research here or abroad, seems likely for a company whose products are about keeping the air clean. There's going to be more people on the planet and they're going to want the things we've got so there'll be the legislation to keep the air clean otherwise we won't be able to survive. So what about strawberries and spark plugs? Well, out of the Johnson Matthey labs have come not just pain killers and cancer treatments. The boffins have recently stumbled on a blend of minerals and clay that the company supplies as a black powder to food label makers who combine it with their ink. Johnson Matthey's chemicals in the ink absorb the organic gases given off by fruit, such as strawberries, which slows down the ripening process and extends the shelf life by anything up to six days. "It's worth a fortune," says Carson. It's a brand new invention. We've built a new plant with 1,800 people there already. Marks & Spencer, Asda and Tesco are using it. As far as spark plugs are concerned, the company has been experimenting with iridium, another platinum group metal. It has found an iridium alloy which, when used as a spark plug tip, gives the component a life span of at least 100,000 miles, which is a lot more than spark plugs with base metal tips. It will last the lifetime of a car. We've sold the technology to Bosch so you won't have to change the spark plugs again, ever. Has anyone told Bosch?