Twelve companies in the region have been short-listed for the prestigious Innovator/10 awards, which celebrate innovation and collaboration among businesses in Yorkshire and Humber. The awards are presented by the regional development agency – Yorkshire Forward.
Three businesses will now battle it out for each of the four awards – each of which carries a £3,000 cash prize – are aimed at recognising those companies and individuals in Yorkshire and Humber who have embraced innovation and developed, alone or in partnership, new ideas, products, technologies or ways of working in order to improve their business.
A panel of expert judges will visit and assess each business between February 1 and Februay 12 before the winners are unveiled on Wednesday, March 3, at a prestigious black tie event at Leeds City Museum with guest speaker Tim Smit, founder of the Eden Project.
Richard Gregory, chairman of Yorkshire Innovation, said: “The quality of the shortlist demonstrates tremendous promise for the future competitiveness of this region. I hope the event acts as an inspiration for others and helps spread the word that Yorkshire is a great place to innovate."
The Partners in Innovation Award, in association with the prestigious Lord Stafford Awards, rewards knowledge transfer between businesses and universities in the Midlands since 1998, and celebrates and rewards businesses which have collaborated with and used the region’s research community, resulting in the successful development of an innovation with the potential to deliver improved business performance and commercial success. Finalists for the award are:
Double Green Limited and The University of York, who developed the use of glycerine, a co-product from biodiesel production. Nature's Laboratory and the Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation’s innovative water soluble deodorised propolis (resin collected by bees and used by them as an immune defence mechanism), which has numerous therapeutic effects, including antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and anticancer, as well as Peratech Limited and the University of Leeds who formed a partnership to produce printable electronic switches and sensors.
The Innovation in Action Award, aims to reward and celebrate an innovative new product, process or service developed in Yorkshire and Humber, candidates in the running are between:
Belgravium Ltd who have developed PalletStar, an innovative combination of mobile computing hardware and application software designed for use by logistics companies offering a pallet distribution service. Crompton Mouldings Ltd creators of LEAP (Layered Engineering Active Polymer) which is a novel patented process designed to manufacture large, high spec panels using recycled materials. And finally, EMSc (UK) Ltd designers and manufacturers of Powerstar - a voltage optimisation unit that works to significantly reduce energy consumption.
The Young Innovative Business Award category is aimed at businesses that have shown creativity and entrepreneurial flair in the launch and early growth of a company, the finalists are:
Image Analysis Ltd who’s Dynamika MRI software speeds up the reviewing of Dynamic MRI and breast imaging scans by using an automated process that dispenses with labour-intensive and expensive manual interpretation patients. Radio Design Ltd who have come up with a way of allowing up to three cellular base stations from two UK-based mobile phone system operators to share the same antenna system, resulting in both site rental and equipment cost savings. And Random Storm Ltd the creators of the Vulnerability Management Platform, a suite of network security tools designed to automatically scan and analyse all components of a corporate network and alert IT managers to any potential vulnerability present in the system.
The final award is the Sustainable Innovation Award that celebrates outstanding advances by Yorkshire and Humber businesses in environmental sustainability through the development and marketing of innovative products, processes and services. The three companies shortlisted are:
Bioflame Ltd who use their cleanburn technology to deliver a plant that converts 30,000 tonnes of low grade biomass waste (that would otherwise go into landfill sites) into 20,000 megawatt hours per year of electricity supplied to the National Grid - enough energy to power over 6000 houses from each site. Havard Engineering developed LeafNut, a ground breaking central monitoring and wireless control system for street lights which can lead to savings of £46 per street light per annum. Or Tadpole Energy Ltd creators of Tadpole, a deaerator designed with proven technology, to remove dissolved air and thereby oxygen from water in a domestic heating system to an inert level, preventing the development of magnetites which corrode the components of the system.
Julie Kenny, Yorkshire Forward Board Member and chair of the short-listing panel, said: “The overall standard of entries this year has been exceptionally high and we really had our work cut out narrowing down such a large number of high quality entries to just 12, which speaks volumes about the thriving nature of the Innovation Sector within the region.
“By recognising those companies within the region who excel through innovation, the bar is continually being raised. But I am confident that the skilled workers at businesses in Yorkshire and Humber will continue to meet, and exceed, the increasingly high standard they set themselves.”
Richard Gregory, chairman of Yorkshire Innovation, said: “The quality of the shortlist demonstrates tremendous promise for the future competitiveness of this region. I hope the event acts as an inspiration for others and helps spread the word that Yorkshire is a great place to innovate."