BCC and Natwest announce Brandon Medical Co Ltd as overall winner of national Chamber Awards 2009 and £50,000
27/11/09 | 14:21
A pioneering British medical company has won an important national business award, scooping a £50,000 prize for its ground-breaking surgical lighting and interactive Symposia that uniquely helps surgeons across the world share crucial endoscopic footage and audio visual information via the web.
Brandon Medical has been named as the national ‘Winner of Winners’ by the British Chambers of Commerce for its cutting-edge ideas that not only help surgeons in theatre, but are revolutionising the way the medical profession shares audio-visual information for training purposes. The business also scooped the Chambers’ Award for Innovation Through Technology, sponsored by Dell.
The small Leeds-based company is already the UK’s leading medical lighting manufacturer and distributor with its patented HD-LED high colour rendition, energy-efficient surgical lights. Previously, surgeons had to use more expensive adapted halogen lighting, which meant they could not see red tissue properly.
From that work in theatre, the company noticed endoscope technology was not sufficiently integrated with other forms of AV communication, so was difficult to share without expensive intervention. Brandon started with a clean sheet of paper and developed the Symposia Medical AV System, an internet-based technology which means any medical video or data source can now be changed quickly and cheaply to a common format. This means doctors can share and access AV information across most computer networks more widely, wherever they are in the world, at a low cost.
David Frost, Director-General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said: “Brandon is a shining example of what a good British business can do in a global market. Brandon stood out from the rest because not only was it able to instinctively identify an opportunity, the company was also able to use its intelligence and experience to develop a set of unique products that is helping the medical profession improve the way it shares vital information. That really could save lives.
“Brandon was able to design, manufacture and distribute that technology, funding its own research through profitability, and not debt. It richly deserves the Natwest-sponsored £50,000 prize.”
Set up in 1997 Brandon Medical only has 30 employees, yet is successfully competing with – and beating some of the biggest multi-nationals in the world including GE, Siemens and Phillips. The company, which is already market leader in four countries, hopes to establish a world-wide brand. It has also developed control and power systems for operating theatres as well as life-saving intensive care equipment.
MD Graeme Hall said: “We are delighted to have won this prestigious business award. Awards like these make all the difference – and all the hard work worthwhile.
“The £50,000 will go towards funding a virtual library of advanced surgical training that we can store and deliver to surgeons on demand all over the world as well as a new technology demonstrator for Symposia.”
Ends
Media Contact:
Sam Turvey
Tel: 020 7654 5813
Email: s.turvey@britishchambers.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
For a full ist of all the national and regional winners vist http://www.chamberawards.co.uk
For interview requests with Brandon Medical Co Ltd please contact the BCC press office.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is the National Voice of Local Business.
The BCC sits at the heart of a powerful nationwide network of Accredited Chambers of Commerce serving business across the UK, which employ over five million people.