City Briefs: Xeros; Kromek; and more
A product developed by Rotherham-headquartered cleaning company Xeros Technology Group is being used to clean the face masks of key workers in France.
Xeros says its partner in France, Georges SAS, is using its Xeros-enabled washing machines to clean fabric face masks during the current pandemic.
Georges SAS has put in place a programme with SNCF in Lyon to sterilise up to 25,000 masks each week. SNCF workers each having their own masks which are individually tracked and traced through their lifecycle.
In addition to SNCF, Georges serves many other iconic French enterprises, as well as cleaning the uniforms of those restoring the Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower.
Karine Da Silva, chair of Georges SAS, said: “Xeros’ technical expertise has enabled us to be extremely responsive in this time of COVID-19 in France.
“We were able to guarantee safe and efficient cleaning for our customers, and it has been a determining element to win new contracts and be able to take care of fabric masks in these times.”
Mark Nichols, CEO at Xeros, said: “Our partnership with Georges is built on a deep mutual understanding of how our technologies meet their customers’ needs.
“Karine and her team have built a fast-growing business based upon providing unparalleled life-cycle garment services to major and highly discerning French companies.
“We see them as a role model for the industry and look forward to working with them to continue their geographic and segmental expansion.”
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Kromek, a supplier of detection technology for the medical, security screening and nuclear markets, has secured a new contract worth up to $5.2m. (£4.2m)
It has won an extension to its contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency of the US Department of Defense, to detect and identify pathogens in an urban environment.
This follows successful completion of the base period of the contract which was awarded by DARPA in December 2018 to develop a vehicle-mounted biological-threat identifier.
Under the terms of the latest deal, Huddersfield-based Kromek will carry out further work on its mobile wide-area bio-surveillance system, capable of detecting airborne pathogens. The total contract period is up to June 2021.
The miniaturised system will be capable of detecting viruses and bacteria and is intended to be located on vehicles to detect the presence of a pathogenic threat.
The small, unmanned system that will run all day and will also be capable of being used in high footfall areas, such as hospitals and airports.
Dr Arnab Basu, CEO of Kromek, said: “We are delighted to be awarded this extension by DARPA.
“The technology developed under this program is capable of sample collection to comprehensive analysis of threats present in air in an autonomous manner.
“By sequencing the genetic code, the device cannot only identify threat pathogens, but also be used to identify the particular strain to aid triage and treatment selection, in addition to being able to track mutations of the pathogen.
“As the system can be vehicle mounted or placed in high footfall areas such as hospitals and airports, the location where the sample is collected can be mapped to a GPS position.
“The transfer of data to a central server allows a picture of pathogen levels across a city to be built up enabling decision makers to react rapidly to any evolving pathogenic threat.”
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Bradford-headquartered credit provider Provident Financial says it has managed to adapt well to the COVID-19 emergency, and continues to have a robust balance sheet.
The business has published a trading statement covering the period from 1 January to 30 April 2020.
It says tighter underwriting standards across the Group saw new business volumes reduce in April, with signs of a modest recovery in May.
The update adds: “The Group’s capital and liquidity positions remained strong, with regulatory capital of c.£710m equating to a CET1 ratio of c.33.4% and a surplus above the minimum regulatory requirement of c.£190m.
“Total Group liquidity, including Vanquis Bank, stands at c.£1.2bn.
“Vanquis Bank adapted well to COVID-19. By mid-April, c.80% of contact centre colleagues were working remotely.
“Customer spending has contracted, in line with peers, but the take-up of payment holidays has been modest.
“Moneybarn has remained open to new business, enabling brokers to keep serving customers and, indeed, lending to key workers has accounted for c.40% of new business.”
Malcolm Le May, Group chief executive, said: “Our capital and liquidity positions remain extremely strong. We believe we have the strongest and most diverse funding options in our sector, a key competitive advantage for us.
“Despite 2020 being a difficult and unprecedented year, the combination of our customer offering, together with our robust balance sheet, mean that I remain confident in the group’s ability to become a broader banking group for the financially underserved population, whilst generating attractive returns for our shareholders over the medium-term.”
