Lighter than Air

One of ELITE’s recent joiners, Hybrid Air Vehicles conquered the sky on 10 May 2017. Their giant 92-metre long Airlander 10 has been in the air for 180 minutes, drawing a solid line behind the landing it experienced in August.

“It was truly amazing to be back in the air. I loved every minute of the flight and the Airlander itself handled superbly. I am eager to get back into the cockpit and take her flying again.” - Chief Test Pilot, Dave Burns.

Founded in 2007, Hybrid Air Vehicles is the company behind the innovative Airlander range of hybrid aircraft. They utilise new aerospace technology that combines the best of the characteristics of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters with lighter-than-air technology to create a new breed of hyper-efficient aircraft, with a significantly lower carbon footprint and operating cost than other forms of air transport.

“This is a great testament to the tenacity and ingenuity of the team of engineers at Hybrid Air Vehicles, who are continually pushing the boundaries of aviation with this amazing aircraft.” said Technical Director, Mike Durham.

 

Major Acquisition for Conservatory Outlet

The leading Wakefield manufacturer has announced the acquisition of one of its largest retail customers for an undisclosed sum, amid record retail orders for the company.

The bold move will see Conservatory Outlet and Newcastle-based Pennine Home Improvements, two of the North’s leading home improvement businesses, under the same ownership. Funding to support the deal has been structured by Allied Irish Bank (GB).

As one of the top 2% of fabricators in the UK by volume, Conservatory Outlet manufactures high-quality windows, doors and conservatory products from its 60,000 square feet facility, supplying to a retail network of 24 installation companies that operate across the UK. This latest strategic acquisition is set to take the Group’s turnover to £25m – an exceptional five-fold growth achieved in the past seven years. 

Greg Kane, CEO of the Conservatory Outlet Group explains: “We’re delighted to announce that Pennine Home Improvements and Conservatory Outlet have joined forces, bringing the manufacturing hub of our business closer to the customer than ever before.

Conservatory Outlet Limited is defying the stagnation felt widely across the home improvement market, by kick-starting the first quarter of 2017 with record order levels from its retail network."

The period January to April of this year has seen the Wakefield-based fabricator achieve an average 15% increase in orders from its network members against the same period last year, with this positive trend set to continue throughout the remainder of the year.

 

GRID Smarter Cities

GRID’s Kerb Virtual Parking System (VPS) to be trialled in London this summer.  VPS is one of a series of projects aimed at improving the transport, energy and infrastructure of cities as part of Innovate UK’s £19m First of a Kind Deployment competition.

Grid Smarter Cities, which designed the website, said the system will allow drivers to park closely to their delivery point without causing congestion or running the risk of receiving a penalty charge notice (PCN).

This can help local authorities manage poor air quality hotspots, incentivise the use of cleaner delivery vehicles, and improve traffic flow across the borough.

“There is overwhelming support for such a solution with significant environmental and economic benefits for commercial vehicle operators and local authorities in the adoption of the solution in comparison with the existing regime of PCNs for illegal parking, which is currently ‘stick with no carrot’,” the Innovate UK project proposal stated.

 

M Squared Lasers

Continuing a successful year, M Squared Lasers the leading manufacturer of photonics and quantum technologies, has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise (International Trade), HM the Queen’s birthday.

Along with other awardees, M Squared has demonstrated outstanding results in the field of international trade, serving as an inspiration to others, according to today’s public announcement by Buckingham Palace.

M Squared has increased its exports by more than 300% per cent in the past three years and these now account for around 90% of revenue.  Graeme Malcolm is CEO and Co-Founder of M Squared and a member of the European Commission’s Quantum Technology Flagship Expert Group. 

          

Graeme commented:  “This award is a privilege for M Squared. Working with international collaborators and world-leading scientific experts brings real joy to our team. We are very proud to be an enabling force in a number of global initiatives to understand the world better, and privileged to work with some of the world’s most ground-breaking scientists.”

This is the second Queen’s Award for Enterprise for the Glasgow-based business following an award in the Innovation category in 2016.

 

1000 Companies to Inspire Britain

On 10th May we hosted a celebration of 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain. 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain is an annual celebration of some of the fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.

As well as identifying 1000 companies, the annual report examines in detail the opportunities and challenges facing SMEs and looks at the sectors and trends that will shape the future of the UK economy. Renal Services, Evolution Funding, van Elle, Zuto and E-Leather.

The Rt Hon Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

“I want to congratulate the 1000 companies from across the UK featured in London Stock Exchange Group’s pioneering 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report. Championing high growth innovative SMEs is crucial for the continued success of the UK economy and a country that works for everyone. We are committed to ensuring that companies of all sizes can access finance to grow, scale-up and create high quality well-paid jobs across the country.”

Xavier Rolet, CEO, London Stock Exchange Group:

“Four years on, LSEG’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ report continues to highlight the dynamic, entrepreneurial and ambitious businesses across the country that are boosting UK productivity, driving economic growth and creating jobs. The strength and diversity of these companies is readily apparent with a broad mix of UK regions and sectors represented. These companies are the very heart of an ‘anti-fragile’ economy: more robust; more flexible and less prone to boom and bust. We must ensure we continue doing all we can to support high growth potential businesses like these.

Congratulations to all!

We have created this section to help you stay on top of what is happening in your ELITE community. Have we missed your achievement this month? Keep us up to date and share your news with us by emailing ELITEUKMarketing@lseg.com.