2007 Central region winners announced

2007-02-12 08:33:57

Last night two businesses from the Shell Springboard Central region picked up awards of £40,000 each, in this, the second year of the competition. Held at the Manchester Marriot Victoria and Albert hotel in Manchester, the competition featured seven small businesses. The awards were presented by Shell UK Chairman James Smith and chair of the judges, Lord Wade of Chorlton.

The expert judging panel - Dr Sarah Mander (Tyndall Centre), Erik Bichard (Sustainability North West), Steve Moore (Environment Agency) and Lord Wade of Chorlton - vetted applications for carbon reduction, innovation and commercial viability. From a highly competitive field, and after a full day of interviews, the judges decided on Lincoln based SynchroPulse and MG Electrical from Scarborough as this year?s Central winners.

Winners MG Electrical - Ron Deakin and Adam Woodhall, MG Electrical with their Trophy.

Each winner will receive their Springboard cash award shortly and both businesses will go on to meet the National Judging panel at the UK final in London on 6th March.

Speaking about his award Andrew Hogbin from SynchroPulse said, "This award will make a big difference and will help us to take the final steps towards commercialisation of the technology. We hope to see our motors in applications as diverse as commercial fridges, industrial pumps and electric vehicles to deliver massive energy savings."

Winners SynchroPulse - Lord Wade, Dr Paul Lefley and Andrew Hogbin, SynchroPulse and James Smith, Shell UK Chairman.

The 7 finalists all enjoyed the networking opportunity and, as winner Ron Deakin from MG Electrical said "This is fantastic news for our business. We know how important the product is for energy saving and, as we launch our 8 to 5 product in March, this award couldn't have come at a better time."

The judges also decided to make a Commendation Award to Hull based business Pulse Generation. Whilst they missed out on a financial award Marc Paish from Pulse Generation said, "To have our product recognised by such a prestigious panel of judges is fantastic for our business. We are looking forward to using that endorsement in the development of our company."

To find out more about Central region finalists, the winners and their projects, please see Winning Ideas.