Crown Bio’s Safe Soil Tester (SST) is a revolutionary piece of equipment which can be used on site to identify contaminated soils in minutes, relegating to the past the practise of stripping away entire areas of topsoil, which might be unpolluted. Not only is the technology more efficient, it can save millions of pounds.
However, the science behind the idea would be worth nothing if Crown Bio had not been able to begin to build a successful company. As Managing Director Ed Bell admits, “trying to get to a market is where most companies fail, and we nearly did as well.”
Registering the company in January 2006, Crown Bio hadn’t yet started trading when Managing Director Ed Bell met UEL Sustainability Research Institute Director Darryl Newport at a DTI event early in the year, and found out about the benefits that the Knowledge Dock Business Centre had to offer.
Already looking for low cost office space, the prospect of units at the centre of the Thames Gateway appealed instantly. Bell says, “Essentially, our technology is about detecting pollution on Brownfield sites; being based in an area at the centre of regeneration was very important to us. It is estimated that over the next 10-20 years, over 1 million new homes will be built in the Thames Gateway – many on former Brownfield sites.”
The move turned out to be a wise one: since beginning to trade in June of the same year, Crown Bio has doubled its staff to five and moved from a two person office to a larger office and a brand new laboratory. Ed is impressed at the way the Knowledge Dock Business Centre has accommodated the growing businesses needs.
Their new laboratory facilities in KD’s light industrial units mean potential clients can be given full demonstrations of how the testing works and Crown Bio can now manufacture its own consumables for commercial use.
Being based at the Knowledge Dock has helped Crown Bio to develop these products into more user friendly models. With the advice of Angle Technology, another resident at KD, the company won an SME Innovation Award from the LDA. This allowed them to work with the Product Design Lab to make their Testers more customer-friendly and portable and their consumables lighter and easier to use. Customers can now test soil for toxicity without having to go near a laboratory, with durable kits built to survive the rigours of fieldwork.
The company has gone from strength to strength in the past twelve months, receiving several awards and accolades including 2nd place in the Thames Gateway Business Awards for Best use of Science or Technology and an important grant from the London Development Agency.
Currently receiving interest from the Environment Agency, Crown Bio have also collaborated with LGC (Laboratory of Government Chemist) to compare methods of detecting common carcinogenic soil pollutants found at Brownfield sites. Results indicated the SST™ system has a number of advantages over the standard time-consuming and costly chemical tests used by the industry at present. In partnership with LGC and EDF Energy, CBTL have been awarded a project grant in excess of £100K to work towards the development of a British Standard in the detection of PAH (Poly aromatic hydrocarbon) pollutants.
Bell believes the Knowledge Dock’s professional and supportive surroundings have given his company the edge when dealing with important clients visiting Crown Bio.
“Presentation is nine tenths of a sale, and KDBC gives the right impression. Quite honestly, we’ve had more support here than with any other organisation, and we would not have been so successful without it.”
KEGIS Case studies
2010 Enfield Innovators Competition
TAKE ON SMART, DYNAMIC GRADUATES