University sponsors awards for best businesses

Following a thorough judging process which the University of Brighton staff visiting each nominated business, the Innovation in Business Award was presented to Ignitho, a company delivering a new approach to IT application services.

The prize rewarded the ‘business best demonstrating outstanding innovation either by developing a new product or by introducing a new process or system to an existing business’.

Highly Commended in this category was Ocasta, a business that creates digital products to improve customer and employee engagement.

Dr Shona Campbell, Assistant Director of Enterprise at the university, said: “The University of Brighton places great importance on being an integral part of the business community, supporting growth in our local economy through innovation and partnerships.

Front row (left to right) Dina Ward (Fresh Ambition), Richard Watson (Energise Sussex Coast), Rachel Carless (Fareshare), Paul Crane (Ecogym), Alex Embleton (Embletree)
Back row (left to right) Lorraine Bell (University of Brighton Green Growth Platform), Stuart Hedley, Dr Shona Campbell (University of Brighton), Gerard Mankin (Southern Water)

“The Innovation in Business category was very hard to judge as the innovations on the table were so disparate but Ignitho particularly impressed us by innovating not just in their approach technology development, but also in their business model.”

The university’s Green Growth Platform awarded the Green Business Award to Brighton and Hove Energy Services Co-operative, an organisation that helps property owners manage the financial and environmental costs of the energy they use.

This prize went to “the company that has created a business which is focused on supporting the green economy as well as helping the City, and in turn our planet, to become more sustainable”.

Zoe Osmond, Director of the university’s Green Growth Platform, said: “Brighton and Hove has a diverse and thriving green business community and we are delighted to support these businesses in showcasing the fantastic work they are doing in creating a vibrant economy that has minimal environmental impact.”

SME Business of the Year was won by Pragmatic Web Ltd, the UK’s leading WordPress agency. The company has just been awarded a three-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University of Brighton which aims to embed cyber security tools and expertise into technical solutions to enable them to meet the high standards of global enterprise clients.

The awards ceremony was held at the Hilton Brighton Metropole and attended by 500 people including business leaders, expert judges and notable figures in the city. The event, which was celebrating its 13^th edition, is described as a “benchmark for excellence in today’s competitive business environment”.