North West Business Masters: Pick your winning Innovator
THREE businesses which have transformed customer experiences, helped users save costs or benefited the environment are in the running for the North West Business Masters 2012 Innovator award.
Sponsored by law firm Cobbetts, the Innovator category was the most hotly-contested of any of the six awards in TheBusinessDesk.com’s North West Business Masters awards, in association with Jaguar. Click here to make your choice.
The finalists are: Warrington’s Belfry Group for its energy-saving EcoPod device; Chorley-based Elite Telecom for its innovative call answering system and Atherton comnpany MHA Lighting, which designs and makes energy-saving lighting technologies which cut Co2 emissions and can slash energy bills by up to 80%.
Belfry Group’s EcoPod combines energy-efficient cascade boilers with solar power, gioving users – including many social housing providers and landlords, significant cost savings.
EcoPod has been retro-fitted to apartment blocks, hotels, schools, hospitals and offices.
It was designed and developed by Belfry Group managing director Keith Rimmer to help alleviate fuel poverty, reduce CO2 emissions, support vulnerable residents and save money for both tenants and landlords.
Having established its credentials as a cost-saving device – EcoPods have been fitted across the North West, for clients including New Charter Housing, Salix Homes, and City West.
It has been proven to cut carbon emissions by 40% amd delivers certified savings of more than 43% on annual heating bills.
In February this year Belfry signed an exclusive multi-million pound agreement with Carillion to market EcoPod worldwide.
Shortlisted for a second year in the Innovator category, Chorley-based Elite Telecom, which has devise a product called Elite Intelligent Queuing, (Elite IQ), which allows clients to answer up to 41% more calls and improve customers’ experience.
The software was developed in-house to help organisations which experienc regular peaks and troughs in call traffic. The technology means that users can increase the number of calls they answer, manage workloads more efficiently and reduce call demands during peak times.
Elite IQ is activated the instant call levels exceed the number of agents available to answer. This system issues callers with an accurate waiting time, after which they can ring back. Upon call-back, the system recognises the identity of their number and puts them at the front of the queue to be answered.
One of Elite’s IQ clients, clothing retailer Chums, saw its average wait time reduced by 40% and its answer rate improved by 60%.
Recent contract wins include domestic appliance giant, Indesit, American Airlines, and an extended deal with Air France to provide all telecoms services in Spain.
The third finalist is MHA Lighting, which has pioneered the use of LED lighting. A fast-growing small business, MHA is committed to supporting manufacturing in its local community.
Since its launch in 2010 sales have risen from £300,000 to more than £2m in 2011.
Managing director Tom Harrison, said: “All our lighting is designed, developed and manufactured in the North West and these awards are a fabulous medium for showcasing the inspirational work that is being done by our region’s businesses.
“To be named as a finalist in the NW BusinessMasters Awards is a great accolade and a public pat-on-the-back to the team for all their hard working in driving this business forward in such tough economic times.”
MHA has recruited 42 people from the local area since the business was created two years ago. It has also appointed its first two apprentices this month and committed to taking on a further two by the end of the second quarter.
Who should win? Click here to cast your vote for the North West Innovator the five other categories.
Winners will be announced on April 26 at a high profile lunch at the Midland Hotel in Manchester. Click here to buy tickets or email polly.kendrick@thebusinessdesk.com
