Innovation, creativity and excellence are qualities that epitomise the five Surrey Research Park companies that recently secured a plethora of big wins at the 2022 Surrey Business Awards
Boasting an enviable reputation and huge reach across the county, the awards recognise the achievements and resilience of Surrey’s business community. This year, the prestigious black-tie event took place on November 3rd at the G Live Theatre in Guildford, with a ceremony hosted by British actress, writer and comedian Jo Caulfield.
On the night, 16 winners were announced, and it was a night of big celebration for Surrey Research Park businesses. Impressively with AURA Veterinary, NatureMetrics, Signapse, Igenomix UK and Gold-I each winning an award, the businesses located on the Park took home almost a third of the total prizes.
AURA Veterinary won the ‘Business Innovation of the Year’ award. The first of its kind in Europe, the veterinary hospital specialises in oncology, soft tissue surgery and interventional radiology (IR). It is on a mission to change the
way cancer is treated in companion animals, offering a comprehensive clinical pathway on-site for diagnosis and treatment of all solid tumours and blood cancers in dogs and cats, including surgical intervention, critical care and chemotherapy.
There are two key practice-led initiatives that underpin the long-term research ambitions of AURA – the hospital’s patient database, which stores over 7,700 comprehensive patient records, and its tissue BioBank. Since 2019, it has collected samples from over 100 spontaneous tumours to support clinically-relevant research into tumour biology, biomarkers and treatment solutions.
The ‘International Business of the Year’ award was won by NatureMetrics, which uses cutting-edge technology to generate biodiversity data at scale using environmental DNA. It strives to create a comprehensive, accessible database of life on earth to accelerate collective understanding, engagement and protection of the natural world.
NatureMetrics delivers bespoke biodiversity survey solutions to suit diverse project needs across all continents. It has sold its DNA-based biodiversity monitoring products in more than 80 countries and, to date, 47% of its annual revenue comes from international sources.
Utilising $15m in recent investment, NatureMetrics plans to build a series of new digital products to enable its customers to set and monitor long-term targets on nature whilst accelerating its expansion into international markets.
The success continues with Signapse winning the ‘Start-Up of the Year’ category. Established in February 2022, the company is revolutionising British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation to help enhance the lives of Deaf people in the UK and around the world.
Currently, due to a limited number of human signers and a lack of suitable alternatives, the Deaf community faces major barriers in communication and messaging. Signapse has set out to create a low-cost, accessible platform to ensure those who use sign language do not miss out, suffer and become marginalised.
Its dynamic AI Sign Language Translator uses neural networks and deep learning to provide anonymisation, consistency and reliability to sign language interpretation, generating sign language from text/voice, detecting and understanding sign language and translating it to text/voice.
Triumphant in the ‘Best Customer Service’ category is Igenomix UK, a medical testing laboratory which provides private and NHS IVF clinics and their patients with the genetic information they need to maximise their chance of having a healthy baby.
Igenomix UK’s award-winning customer service is underpinned by respect, teamwork, responsiveness, and professionalism – skills that are mixed with a unique requirement for empathy. The organisation hosts a broad range of initiatives to engage with and support employees and customers on a deeper level. These include Employee and Customer Satisfaction Surveys, a staff Rewards & Recognition Programme and Educational Events/Symposia for customers, which enable the team to regularly collate and review feedback to optimise performance, develop ideas and generate new opportunities.
And finally, Gold-i, a global market leader in trading systems integration, won ‘Employer of the Year’. Staff motivation is a high priority for Gold-i, which has a number of initiatives in place to ensure all employees feel valued, receive great training and development, and are able to offer a high-quality service.
The company prides itself on employing young, relatively inexperienced people in the sector and filling senior vacancies from within the organisation whenever possible. Staff are invited to share in Gold-i’s successes, and many social activities are organised throughout the year to maintain team morale. Health, wellbeing, and work-life balance are at the forefront of the organisation, and employees are offered a wide range of benefits, including extra days off for special occasions, share options and access to MyGP for fast access to GP appointments, to name just a few.
