Ski slope company is on its way to the top

Mar 13 2008 by Henryk Zientek, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A HOLME Valley firm designing ski slopes has won a regional award for innovation.

Scholes-based Briton Engineering was victorious in the Innovator/08 Award organised by development agency Yorkshire Forward.

Managing director Brian Thomas and finance director Dr Sue Thomas received the Global Innovation Award from Yorkshire Forward chief executive Tom Riordan and Mark Robson, of the Government’s export support section, UK Trade and Investment.

The ceremony for the awards – designed to recognise Yorkshire’s most innovative firms – was hosted by former Tory Cabinet minister Michael Portillo and held at Leeds Town Hall.

Briton Engineering, formed in 1979, has led the way in designing ski slopes over the past 25 years.

The company also invented Snowflex, a snow sports surface used by skiers and snowboarders. The surface has been installed in ski centres across the UK and worldwide.

Briton won the award for tailoring Snowflex for the international market, further developing the product to work both in sub-zero temperatures and extreme heat.

As a result, the system has been installed at sites as varied as Noeux-les-Mines in France; Ocean Park in Hong Kong and at a ski park in Dallas, Texas.

The contracts helped Briton Engineering achieve turnover of £1.5m last year, with exports accounting for 85% of sales.

Mr Thomas said: “We are delighted to win this award in recognition of our achievements.

“But we are on the first step of a journey. We still have a long way to go. From our experience success is all about looking at new markets, otherwise you won’t do very well at all.”

Jim Farmery, head of innovation at Yorkshire Forward, said; “Innovation in business – be it through the development of a new product or the introduction of a new way of working – is vital to our region’s future economic growth.

“The only way our businesses will grow and survive in the global marketplace is by doing things better, faster and more responsively than competitors.

“Briton Engineering has redeveloped Snowflex for international use, allowing the firm to expand its markets globally. This kind of forward thinking needs to be recognised.”