EEDA - East of England Development Agency

Minister of State hammers home importance of innovation

24 June 2008

Minister of State Ian Pearson was given a smashing experience today (Tuesday 25 June) while visiting a pioneering local business as part of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills' (DIUS) Innovation Nation road-show.

Zettlex Printed Technologies, a cutting-edge technology developer based in Newton (near Cambridge), challenged the Minister and EEDA's executive director of enterprise Rachel Bosworth to try and vandalise their high accuracy radio frequency sensors with a big hammer. But even after a tirade of crashing blows, Zettlex's sensor worked as if brand new, and that's because of the innovative way in which they are produced.

Printed on to paper or film using conductive ink, Zettlex sensors are remarkably light and robust compared to traditional electro-mechanical systems. And with help from the East of England Development Agency's Proof of Concept fund, Zettlex are identifying lucrative global markets for their product in aerospace, defence and robotics, producing business growth of 350 per cent in the last year. In the last month alone, Zettlex has signed a deal to supply sensors for homeland security installations worth £2 million and hopes to sign a further defence contract worth more than £3 million this summer.

Science and Innovation Minister Ian Pearson, speaking at Zettlex's office in Newton, said:

"Zettlex are clearly thriving. Innovation is essential to the UK's future economic prosperity and quality of life as we set out in our White Paper Innovation Nation. Cambridge is a hot-bed of research and development activity. But innovation doesn't just take part in traditional laboratories - SMEs have a huge role to play. I'm delighted to see such a healthy partnership between EEDA and Zettlex. It is clear that Proof of Concept funding has helped Zettlex take their innovative ideas to a global market".

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