Last night four businesses from the Shell Springboard South region picked up awards of between £20,000 - £40,000, in this, the third year of the competition.
Held at the City Inn Westminster Hotel in London the competition featured eight shortlisted small businesses, from the South of England. Awards were presented by Andrew Eddy, Director, Shell UK and Chair of the judges, Karen Lawerence, Head of Advice at the Energy Savings Trust.
The expert judging panel; Daniel Doulton, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, SpinVox Ltd, Dr Ricardo Martinez-Botas, Imperial College London and Rebekah Philips, Green Alliance and Chair of the panel Karen Lawerence - 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 Carbon8 Systems Ltd, Inspecs Innovations, OMEnergy Ltd and Polysolar Ltd as the overall winners.
Carbon8 Systems Ltd and Inspecs Innovations were chosen to meet the National Judging Panel at the UK final in London on the 4th March. They join Oxy-Gen Combustion Ltd, Econotherm and 2D Heat as the competition heats up.
Paula Carey, Commercial Director of Carbon8 Systems, said, "This award opens the door for this project and further funding to develop the project on a real site. We already have a landfill site identified in Kent County Council which has flaring issues - we look forward to implementing the technology there."
Commenting on their win Chris Smith, from Inspecs Innovations, said, "This has been a very inspiring day for me, to see such a great set of important ideas. This award is almost the difference between life and death, it's Shell Springboard or rob a bank! We can now concentrate on our ongoing trials and rolling out the technology to our customers."
Judges made a surprise decision by deciding to award a further two businesses with £20,000 each.
Phillip Sargent, CTO of Polysolar Ltd said "Shell Springboard's validation of our idea means a great deal to us in our search for funding, which is crucial in order for us to fulfil our aims and our vision. This endorsement really gives us a greater presence and credibility."
Don Smith, Director of OM Energy Ltd, said, "This Shell Springboard award will help to secure the financial future of the company, while the recognition will increase our credibility in the industry. We can now use our success to talk to engine companies and truck manufacturers with greater confidence."
To find out more about North region finalists, the winners and their projects, please see Winning Ideas.