Enterprise Hub Network - Case History
Sittingbourne Enterprise Hub
Paul Walsh
Global Medical Systems (Europe)
Company Background
Global Medical Systems (Europe) was formed two years ago on the back of a groundbreaking idea to combine renewable energy technologies with medical devices to provide medical and surgical facilities in remote and unusual locations.
Design engineer Alex Bushell invented the business’s first product, the CompactOR™, a ‘hospital in a box’ using solar power generated by photovoltaic panels to power medical equipment over extended periods. This makes it ideal for use in routine operations in remote regions, such as those that are the result of public health programmes, and for rapid deployment in disaster relief situations. More prosaically, it can be used in emergencies where evacuation of the casualty is difficult or inadvisable – for example on oil rigs or in sports stadia.
The product has been shown at the International Invention Show in Geneva, and has won a number of awards for innovation. As a result of the resulting publicity, it has been demonstrated to the Red Cross, as well as to governments around the world.
The CompactOR™ can be transported in the back of a 4x4 vehicle and has the flexibility to use a variety of other independent power sources, including diesel generators and micro wind turbines.
It can be equipped with a range of medical modules, depending on the likely conditions and requirements in the field.
The first series model of the CompactOR™ is now complete, and the company has made its first export sales.
Work with the Enterprise Hub
Located on Kent Science Part in Sittingbourne, the business has worked with Sittingbourne Enterprise Hub from the outset, to help in setting up the business.
Specific assistance from the Hub includes:
- Assistance with Intellectual Property issues, developing a business structure and capital fundraising, including securing first stage R&D capital, followed by second stage production funding for a further 12 months
- Advice on creating a market for a genuinely novel product
- Practical advice and assistance with securing new, purpose-built premises to provide space now that the products are going into production
- Introduction to UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), to assist in complex negotiations with overseas governments
- Provision of meeting rooms for use as required
Global Medical Systems’ Alex Bushell said: “Working with Sittingbourne Enterprise Hub has helped us to get the CompactOR™ to market in the fastest possible time.
“The value of the assistance they have given us is incalculable. Their business advice has always been first rate, and has helped us not to stray from the straight and narrow. They have always been quick to help with practical difficulties as they have arisen along the way.
Sittingbourne Enterprise Hub director Paul Walsh said: “Global Medical Systems has a number of products in development combining renewable energy technology with medical devices – the CompactOR™ is just the first. It is a product with huge potential and the team has worked hard to get it to launch. We predict great things for this product and for the ones that will follow.”
What’s next
The potential export market for the products is huge, and Global Medical Systems (Europe) is planning to work closely with UKTI to ensure that this market can be optimised safely and profitably.
The team is also negotiating with a number of manufacturing groups who, they hope, will be able to take on the products and manufacture them in sufficient numbers as business grows.
