Llandrindod business wins top award
A pioneering Mid Wales business, which is making hydrogen fuel cell cars, has won a prize at the annual Powys Business Awards.
Riversimple Engineering Ltd of Llandrindod Wells picked up the Judges' Award at the awards dinner held at Hafren, Newtown on Friday. The company, which was also runner up for the Innovation/New Product Development Award, was said to have made "a striking impression" on the judges.
Established in 2001, the company employs 20 staff and says it has developed "the first affordable, hassle free, fun-to-drive eco car delivered as a complete and cost-transparent service by a sustainable company".
Riversimple Engineering's first car will be a two-seater with good acceleration, a cruise speed of at least 55mph, deliver the equivalent of up 300mpg with 60 per cent less CO2 than the best car on the market and take between three and five minutes to refuel.
The company, which has received a £2 million research, development and innovation grant from the Welsh Government, is working towards a 12 month market trial of 20 cars next year.
Founder and technical director Hugo Spowers said: "This award is a fantastic tribute to the team of people at the company who will all be very excited, but I feel like an interloper as we have only been here for 18 months.
"It's the first business award we have won and it will make a difference to the staff who are working 12 hour days at the moment."
Making a tongue in cheek comment, aimed at Volkswagen, he told the audience: "We are confident that we will pass our emissions test."
He went on to explain: "Riversimple is pioneering a movement to make cars genuinely sustainable. Our car breaks new ground in fuel efficiency and environmental performance. It's powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and has been designed from scratch with lightweight but strong composite materials.
"It weighs less than half as much as a conventional car, is highly aerodynamic and stable and it will cost the planet much less in resources both to make and to run, but will deliver both more profit to the company and other benefits to society.
"We have been working on this project for 15 years and are confident in the energy efficiency of our technology."
The judges said: "This company is pioneering a different approach with the aim of aligning its financial interest with society's needs and customers' desires. With a trial planned for 2016, we are sure it won't be long before we see this product on the roads of Powys and further afield."
