Business Support Case Study: Business Edge

Business Edge work on disruptive technology that removes the need for oil to be used in air conditioning compressors. Initial tests on a small compressor showed impressive energy savings of up to 40%.

The company began working with our Clean Growth UK South West Hub at the University of Portsmouth after a referral from the Solent Growth Hub.

A panel of scientists and technical experts from the Universities of Portsmouth and Southampton approved a £100,000 Green Growth grant for the business, which they’ve used on a project to scale up their technology.

The Green Growth grant was used to recruit 5 new members for the team including two Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and a PhD post graduate student from the University of Portsmouth.

The Knowledge transfer placements were able to design, test and validate the results from the prototype. Much value was added with access to the academic expertise at the University and the use of CFD software (computational fluid dynamics) provided performance data. This has led to increased interest from the market and plans are now underway to create a larger compressor.

This enlarged R&D team have been able to progress product development and received assistance in obtaining Research and Development Tax Credits valued at £25,000.

“We were successful in securing two Knowledge Transfer Partnerships via the University of Portsmouth, these being directly aimed at the ongoing development of our oil-free high-speed centrifugal vapour compressor. We were absolutely delighted with the scheme and have just asked if it would be possible to appoint a 3rd KTP in the area of sales and marketing.” - Mike Creamer CEO