A lighting systems manufacturer – Harvard Engineering, based in Wakefield and specialising in energy saving street lighting – has been named the most innovative business in the country.
The company picked up its Orange Innovation National Business Award after scoring highly for its pioneering street lighting system, which saved its customers £322m a year and reduced its carbon emissions by 700m kg a year. Harvard also manufactures LED and HID lighting controls offering efficiency for commercial, retail, emergency and street lighting applications.
The company employs 210 people at its facility in Normanton and is projected to reach a turnover of over £20 million, a 44.4 per cent increase on sales in the previous 12 months. Judges described the company as "a triumph of customer led entrepreneurship".
The presentation was attended by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon George Osborne MP and Chair of the National Business Awards judges Baroness Virginia Bottomley.