Latest News

David Ball Group PLC rewarded for low carbon solution

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Innovative Cambridge-based business David Ball Group PLC has been awarded £30,000 by Shell to help develop a pioneering idea that could put it at the cutting-edge of the UK’s new low carbon economy.

David Ball Group PLC is a research-led company specialising in developing and manufacturing specialist cementitious products for the construction and building industry and was announced as a Regional runner-up in the annual Shell Springboard Awards in Edinburgh this week.

Run by Shell, the high profile programme aims to find the next big idea in low carbon enterprise and innovation by small and medium enterprises.

David Ball Group PLC saw off more than 120 companies to secure a place at the Edinburgh final of this year’s competition and impressed the judges with its cement-free concrete, Cemfree.

Now in its eighth year, Shell Springboard has awarded over £2.25 million to 62 small businesses that have developed new ways of cutting CO2. According to the Confederation of British Industry, low carbon products and services are now worth more than £120 billion a year to the UK economy, 8% of the UK’s GDP.

Dr Martin Liska, Research and Development Manager at David Ball Group PLC said: “We are delighted at this award and recognition at the Shell Springboard Awards that Cemfree is acknowledged as an innovative and viable solution to reducing the carbon legacy of the world’s most widely used construction material.”

Angus Gillespie, Vice President for CO2 at Shell added: “Shell Springboard celebrates the inventiveness of small companies in the face of big challenges from climate change and the rising demand for energy. David Ball Group PLC embodies this idea to the core. I congratulate them on their success and wish them the best of luck.”

Below picture L-R: Angus Gillespie (Vice President of CO2 at Shell), Dr Martin Liska & Prof Peter Hewlett (David Ball Group) and the Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse MSP.

Discounts for Cambridge Cleantech Members through CDWM

Sat, 04 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Cambridge Design and Web Management (CDWM) is now offering a introductory 40% off our services for the first 3 months to all new businesses signing up for our services through Cambridge Cleantech. You can find a flyer below detailing our most popular services and you can find more details on our website here. Please quote Cambridge Cleantech in your enquires to receive this discount.

CDWM has been managing the website for Cambridge Cleantech since October of last year to great success. If you wish to share in this success please do contact us. Remember, we are not limited to the services listed on our website. If you have a service you require, but we do not yet offer, please do get in contact with us and discuss your needs.

Sustainabile building suppliers lead by example

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Lincolnshire-based Larkfleet Group (www.larkfleetgroup.co.uk) companies put their money where their mouths were when it came to investing in sustainable energy solutions - and are now making and saving hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels installed by Larkfleet on their own roofs at Larkfleet House in Bourne and Spitfire Park in Market Deeping are significantly exceeding projected returns in terms of electricity generated, energy savings and income generation.

The installations, which include a mix of thin-film and standard PV panels, are generating 12 per cent more electricity than predicted. This means that the companies will save more than £140,000 in electricity bills over the next 25 years while also producing an income of more than £1.25 million from the sale of electricity.

PV panels produce electricity from daylight, generating useable power even on cloudy days.

There are 240 crystalline panels fitted on the roof of builders' merchant Deepings Building & Plumbing Supplies (www.deepingsbuilding.co.uk). Installed by sister company Lark Energy in May 2012, the whole scheme was predicted to generate around 43,600 kWh of electricity annually but has actually produced over 49,000 kWh in its first full year of operation.

The roof at adjacent Kestrel Timber Frame (www.kestreltimberframe.co.uk) is fitted with 108 thin film PV panels that have generated over 10,300 kWh in their first twelve months of operation.

Jonathan Selwyn, managing director of Lark Energy (www.larkenergy.co.uk) which is also part of the Larkfleet Group based at Spitfire Park, said:

"The solar installations on our own buildings, and the hundreds we have installed for our commercial customers, are providing firm evidence that renewable energy solutions continue to make great commercial and environmental sense for businesses.

"Although the government has reduced feed in tariffs over the last three years, this has been more than offset by reductions in installation costs and rising energy bills.

"As a result, our commercial customers are achieving a significant return on investment from their installations and we have seen significant growth in our commercial business over the first quarter of this year."

Lark Energy offers a complete service for large-scale roof-top PV installations on industrial and commercial buildings while Deepings Building & Plumbing Supplies provides a similar service for domestic installations.

In addition to solar PV there are a number of other sustainable energy solutions installed at Spitfire Park including a wind turbine, a ground source heat pump and a rainwater harvesting system.

Deepings Building & Plumbing Supplies director Ian Greenfield said: "We like to gain real operating experience of our products ourselves before offering them to customers. We have been delighted with the performance of the PV installations on our roof which are making a real contribution to cutting our energy costs and CO₂ emissions."

European Cleantech Funding Report (2013-2014)

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Times are tough for fundraising for young, private cleantech companies, wherever they are in the world. The traditional sources of capital are shrinking, as the venture capital asset class in general has been suffering, and the cleantech investment theme in particular continues to bear the brunt.

This much is commonly known. But it is too high‐level and generalized to be useful and actionable for CEO’s and CFO’s of such companies. The world is a big place and all is not even, geographically, or sectorally. Fundraising prospects and potential sources of capital vary greatly depending on who you are, where you are, what you are doing, what stage of commercialization and profitability you are at, and how capital‐intensive your company is.
Sentiment in the global market is shifting, investors are repositioning and it can be very difficult for companies to keep a track of what is really happening and to distinguish marketing and talk, from true changes in investment focus and capital availability.

All leading indicators suggest that that the challenges for fundraising companies are only going to increase in 2013‐14, the focus of this research. Cleantech Group and Georgieff Capital have analyzed this issue and produced this report to help lift the veil on what is really going on and what we anticipate for the funding of new companies in the near‐future (2013‐14).

The report’s primarily audience is cleantech companies in Europe and Israel, but clearly will interest investors and others too. It seeks to highlight which sources of capital for entrepreneurial cleantech companies in the Europe and Israel region are growing, and which are shrinking – right now. It seeks to provide much more granularity on what is really happening and why, and some guidance on where to look, where not to look, and why.

This is an excerpt from a report published by the Cleantech Group and the Georgieff Group. This full report can be found by clicking here.

Travel For Work April 2013 flyer

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Travel for Work Partnership can help your business save money by promoting car sharing, cycling, bus use and rail travel. All of this helps to reduce demand on car parks, improve health of employees and reduce congestion. For organisations based in the Local Sustainable Transport Fund area (see overleaf)

You can view the full flyer by clicking here.

Sagentia Leads Discussion on Successes & Failures in Cleantech Innovation at Cambridge Cleantech TSB Strategy Event

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Sagentia Leads Discussion on Successes & Failures in Cleantech Innovation
at Cambridge Cleantech TSB Strategy Event

LONDON, UK – 23 APRIL, 2013 – Sagentia, a global technology and product development company, will today present on successes and failures in cleantech innovation at the Cambridge Cleantech event ‘Influencing the TSB’s Strategy for Innovation in the UK Cleantech Sector’. Sagentia’s Dr Robin Lee, Chief Technology Officer, will be joined on the speaker panel by Iain Gray, CEO of the Technology Strategy Board; Sir Robin Young, Board Member at Cambridge Cleantech; Dr Mark England, CEO of Sentec; David Ball, Chairman of David Ball Group; and Andrew Jones, MD of Alquist.

During his presentation Dr Lee will focus on the state of innovation in the cleantech sector both from an industry and a technology perspective, discuss how cleantech companies can be more innovative and consider the role the Technology Strategy Board could play in helping further stimulate innovation in the sector.

Dr Lee comments: “Sagentia recognises the value and significant growth potential of the cleantech sector driven by the insatiable need for energy and resources together with increasing awareness for our environment. The technologies and companies striving to succeed in this sector span a huge range of capability and readiness and getting your innovation or product successfully to market presents many challenges. The TSB and Catapult initiatives will play an invaluable part in providing guidance, resource and funding to cleantech companies navigating their way to commercial success.”

The Cambridge Cleantech event aims to create discussion on the effectiveness of the Technology Strategy Board in achieving its aim ‘to accelerate economic growth by stimulating and supporting business-led innovation by being a catalyst, highlighting opportunities, connecting partners and by funding’. It will also consider how the TSB could better support innovation in the UK cleantech sector.

Sagentia’s focus on this topic is based on its proven track record of working on projects for clients in the cleantech sector ranging from market needs identification and analysis through to full product development. It’s projects in this area include supporting clean energy companies in the solar, fuel cells, CHP and wind energy markets; developing energy and water efficient products in a range of industries; and supporting the creation of smart grids for electricity and other utilities.

About Sagentia

Sagentia is a global innovation, technology and product development company. We provide outsourced R&D consultancy services to start ups through to global market leaders in the medical, industrial and consumer sectors. With global headquarters in Cambridge, UK, and U.S. headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, Sagentia works with clients from opportunity discovery through to concept generation and full product development and transfer to manufacture. We excel in science and technology innovation and work with clients to develop next generation products and services that provide commercial value and market advantage. Further information can be found at: http://www.sagentia.com. Email us info@sagentia.com

About Cambridge Cleantech

Cambridge Cleantech is a members organisation supporting the growth of environmental goods and services or “cleantech” companies in the Greater Cambridge area. Its vision is to establish Cambridge as a leading cleantech community in Europe by co-ordinating, supporting and promoting commercial opportunities for its members.

Contact:

Sagentia

Tamara Kahn, +44 1223 875205

Vice President, Corporate Development

Tamara.Kahn@Sagentia.com

Expansion of R&D community at University of Cambridge, West Cambridge site.

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

EXPANSION OF R&D COMMUNITY AT UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, WEST CAMBRIDGE SITE AS METASWITCH TAKE SPACE IN BROERS BUILDING, HAUSER FORUM.

Communications network provider Metaswitch has signed a new lease on part of the second floor of the 41,825 sq ft Broers Building part of the Hauser Forum at the University of Cambridge’s West Cambridge Site.

The four-storey building is uniquely available, within the University owned and occupied site, to organisations involved in commercial research and development and the letting follows hard on the heels of acquisition of space by Dr Mike Lynch’s new venture Invoke Capital at the end of 2012.

Chris Goldsmith, a director of Nafield Properties, the joint venture between Turnstone Estates and Burall Developments, developers of the Hauser Forum, confirmed “We believe that Metaswitch will make an important contribution to the West Cambridge Site. Equally they stand to benefit from the added value of space which is integrated with the University and wider Cambridge R&D community”.

There is now just 6,219 sq ft of R&D office space available to let within the building. Other occupiers include Nokia, Base4 Innovation, Enthought, Avidity IP, Elektron and Comsol.

Further information can be found on www.broersbuilding.com

Cambridge Cleantech first into new incubator

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Future Business Centre – Cambridge’s first purpose built incubation centre to help social and environmental businesses start up and succeed - has confirmed that Cambridge Cleantech have signed up as the first tenant to be based at the new Centre.

The new 35,000 sq ft Centre is currently being built and will be run by local social enterprise Future Business, offering affordable, high quality workspace on flexible terms with onsite specialist business advice and an ethos of collaboration and innovation.

Cambridge Cleantech will continue to support cleantech start-ups in the City, and their work at the Future Business Centre will further develop the cluster of ‘cleantech’ environmental businesses emerging in Cambridge – businesses that use the latest technology to address environmental issues.

Over 100 social and environmental start-ups are already being supported by Future Business and this support will intensify when the Centre opens this autumn. Hugh Parnell, Chairman of Cambridge Cleantech is excited to be part of the Future Business Centre:

“Cambridge Cleantech is delighted to be partnering with the Future Business Centre and looks forward to being based there to help develop what will become the heart of the cleantech community. We are already successfully working with Future Business to provide support to start-up cleantech businesses and we see the new Centre as the next step to the area becoming a leading cleantech cluster in Europe.”

Martin Garratt, CEO, comments that “being based at the new Centre will provide us with a home amongst our own community of cleantech start-ups and enable us to provide innovative business support services directly from the centre including a ‘Cleantech Clinic’ on key topics, advice ‘surgeries’ with expert personnel and other events.” He went on to say that “as our national and international reputation continues to grow, we will also use the Future Business Centre as a professional base to inform and promote the Greater Cambridge area to cleantech inward investors from across the globe.” Future Business and Cambridge Cleantech are now looking for potential tenants who would like to be based at the Centre and receive business support. Alongside start-ups and early-stage businesses, there is also space for commercial companies that can provide a service to tenants. For more information go to www.futurebusinesscentre.co.uk

Businesses and individuals are also being asked to support the Centre financially and add their logo or photo to a ‘wall of support’ website which will then feature as part of the Centre’s public art installation. To make a donation go to www.futurebusinesscentre.co.uk/support

Larkfleet Renewables sponsors prestigious awards

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Lincolnshire-based renewable energy company Larkfleet Renewables is sponsoring the third annual Investors in the Environment Awards 2013. The awards ceremony will take place at the Kingsgate Conference Centre in Peterborough on Tuesday 30 April.

The awards are being organised by Peterborough Environment City Trust (PECT) to celebrate the third anniversary of Investors in the Environment (www.iie.uk.com).

Keynote speakers at the event will include John Edmonds, board member of the Environment Agency (www.environment-agency.gov.uk) and non executive director of the Carbon Trust (www.carbontrust.com).

The event will also feature a green buffet with wine and an exhibition with over 20 stands showcasing goods and services from sustainable suppliers and a video booth.

Investors in the Environment gives businesses a practical framework for reducing waste and energy use. The scheme is active throughout the Eastern region. It has also been launched in Yorkshire with the collaboration of the Yorkshire Energy Partnership (www.yorkshireenergypartnership.org.uk). Nationally, over 900 businesses have pledged their support for the scheme with more than 750 coming from this region alone.

Ian Greenfield of Larkfleet Renewables said: "We are proud to be sponsoring the 2013 Investors in the Environment Awards and to recognize the environmental achievements of all the member businesses.

"As a local company focused on sustainable building and renewable energy products we are delighted to be able to work with PECT to help Peterborough towards becoming the UK's environment capital.

"Investors in the Environment is a great scheme and with Larkfleet Renewables' focus being on delivering energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions to our clients, it's a natural fit for us to support these awards.

"It also gives us the opportunity to get out there and spread the renewables message to as wide an audience as possible."

Investors in the Environment project officer Kim Coley added: "We are delighted that Larkfleet Renewables has agreed to sponsor the awards this year. Working closely with a network of organisations, Investors in the Environment is providing a series of events, courses and seminars that can help create a better workplace by educating businesses on what resources are available to them."

Last year's awards evening was sponsored by Eco Building Products (www.eco-building-products.co.uk), another Larkfleet Group company.

To find out more about the awards or to attend the event email info@iie.uk.com or call 01733 866436 for more information.

Plugging into the future: Power Parking

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Parking lots of concrete or asphalt are a customer necessity, but do very little to add revenue to a business—unless the business adopts the concept of PowerParking. The Solar Cloth Company Ltd., Cambridge, U.K., will use its expertise with flexible solar technology to develop a parking lot that shades vehicles, generates electricity, runs everything from electric car chargers to security cameras and enhances the look of the most mundane space. Fabric shades can be branded to generate further revenue from advertising sales or even produce surplus green power that can be sold.

Features of the canopy fabric include wind resistance up to 150 miles per hour, snow loading to 12 inches, solar cell bonding guaranteed for five years and resistance to color fading. The solar cells are waterproof, guaranteed for 20 years and can generate 60 watts per square meter of fabric. Modular and custom designs for office parks, shopping centers or municipal lots dress up the facility, while optional features can add to the convenience and safety of customers. These include electric car charging stations, LED lighting, CCTV mounting plates, Wi-Fi and audiovisual systems and rainwater harvesting systems.

This is from an article originally published in Specialty Fabrics Review. You can read this article by clicking here.