In Brief: Contract for VUE; electricity innovation; Cleanbake breakthrough

MANCHESTER-based vehicle CCTV firm, VUE, has won a contract to supply camera systems to CEMEX UK.

The company, which runs more than 400 vehicles transporting cement, aggregates and ready-mixed concrete, wants to improve its drivers’ visibility as part of a cycle safety campaign.

It has already fitted signs, mirrors and proximity sensors to the fleet.

VUE will fit its technology in an initial 18 vehicles based in London. The cameras are positioned all around the vehicle and feed into a cab monitor, giving driver a 360-degree view.

::

ENGINEERS at the University of Manchester and Loughborough-based EPL Composite Solutions are working on a device they say could dramatically increase the capacity of the UK’s electricity network.

They say this will avoid the need for a new network of pylons, enabling rapid increases in renewable generation and lower bills for consumers.

University spin-out company Arago Technology is making and marketing a power transmission crossarm that allows existing towers to carry a higher voltage.

They have been installed on pylons in some of the remote areas of the UK to test their resistance to extreme weather and are also being tested for use with 400,000 volt systems at a coastal site in Scotland.

Modelling shows that in some cases the new crossarms are capable of increasing the power carrying capability of a pylon by up to 2.5 times.

Arago’s commercial manager Dr Frank Allison added: “The installation of the insulated crossarms in a number of locations is a landmark event for Arago and its partners and vindicates the hours of hard work and dedication by all members of the team.”

::

SKELMERSDALE-based Cleanbake has won the UK licence to produce a type of fluoropolymer non-stick coating for the baking industry.

Cleanbake, which has a turnover £5.5m and employs 63 people, said the deal with Barcelona-based Coatresa to introduce its Testrong Industrial Bakeware would open up a £12m UK market.

Managing director Shaun Hughes said: “We’re breaking the UK monopoly on this type of coating so that every bakery can have greater choice and cost-effective solutions to managing bakery equipment.”

He added: “This is good news for the region as we bring more expertise and skills into the area which we hope will lead to job creation in the future as we secure more business in the UK and expand our operations in Europe.”