At a glittering event at Edgbaston Stadium, in front of over 400 people, Plexus Innovation beat off stiff competition to win the title of Most Innovative Supplier at the Housing Digital Innovation Awards 2023.
The judges said:
“Plexus Innovation’s GUARDIAN® displayed an innovation that is helping improve service, as well as health and safety and environmental performance. A great example of an SME innovation company making an impact in the sector."
Designed and manufactured by Steve Todd at Plexus Innovation, GUARDIAN®, provides digital business improvements in a host of industries by remotely measuring temperature, pulses, humidity and air quality.
Used to manage water/heating systems, assets and facility environment, GUARDIAN® enables insight-driven decisions, identification of risk against health threats or poor system performance, reduction in energy use and water waste, protection against damp and mould; and provision of real-time data for compliance management.
Steve, who collected the award alongside colleagues Anneka Johnson and Antonia Brindle, said:
“We work hard as a team and with our customers to bring innovative products and solutions to the market under our GUARDIAN® brand. Our users are enjoying being able to use our technology to make decisions based on data which has a positive impact on reducing health risks, improving business processes, and assisting them on the road to Net Zero.
“One of our huge successes is reducing the need for water flushing in properties by up to 75%, saving huge amounts of water and the energy associated. Protecting against damp and mould is a concern for the social housing sector, using GUARDIAN® to measure and quantify the problem is naturally a good fit.
“We are delighted to have received the recognition from Housing Digital and the judges, and will display our award proudly in the office for the whole team to enjoy.”
Plexus Innovation has trebled in size in the past two years and recently raised a further £480,000 to help it expand into new markets from the North East Venture Fund (NEVF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia; and from the Finance Durham Fund, managed by Maven Capital Partners, established by Durham County Council and overseen by Business Durham.
Plexus Innovation’s GUARDIAN® technology remotely monitors critical infrastructure, providing real-time data that assists with compliance reporting. The system also provides automated alerts to highlight any potential health risks or failing assets.
GUARDIAN® is being used by social housing clients including believe housing, North Star Housing Group, Sovereign, Loreburn Housing Association, Selwood and Careline Lifestyles. The funding, and this award, will enable co-founders Ian Murray and Steve Todd to accelerate product development and boost market penetration further into social housing and other sectors including education, healthcare, manufacturing, leisure and hospitality.
The latest investment followed a £400,000 funding round in 2020. Since then, the company now employs an eight-strong team and is planning to create 2 new jobs in the coming months.
More information is available on www.plexus-innovation.com