Neil Parker, Managing Director of BridgePoint Group, recently hosted a lunch for the inaugural BridgePoint Group Innovation Award winners.
Neil speaks about his passion for innovation and the importance of celebrating Australian innovation.
“Innovation is an essential component of a growing, competitive economy.
Australia has a history of punching above our weight in relation to innovation – think of the bionic ear, the Hills Hoist, the winged keel that won the America’s Cup, and even Wi-Fi. They were all invented by Australians.
At BridgePoint Group, we’ve always been passionate about supporting innovative small and medium Australian businesses, and expanded our service offering in 2019 to include an Innovation Advisory division.
We’ve also introduced the BridgePoint Group Innovation Awards to celebrate businesses that are developing innovative products, services and business models, and to recognise and encourage the people behind those businesses.”
Nominated businesses spanned a diverse range of industries and different stages of business maturity.
“The many nominees who shared their business’ stories and their own passion for innovation was truly exciting.
We were also incredibly fortunate to attract a panel of experienced, credible judges in our first year, and they provided invaluable expertise in evaluating nominations.
Our judges were Tony Shaw, Principal Patent Attorney with international law firm Allens; Marco Tallarida, industrial designer and founder of design firm B.Product; and BridgePoint Group’s Innovation Advisor, Alan Baghdasarayan.
Marco, Tony and Alan are exposed to cutting edge technologies every day, and assessed nominations across a pretty competitive field to select the inaugural award winners, categorised by size and maturity of business.”
EnGeneIC won Best Innovation from an Established Business. EnGeneIC has developed a technique to deliver drugs directly to cancer cells without causing collateral damage and also improves the patient experience.
24 Hour Positioning won Best Innovation from a Small Business for their unique postural management solutions for people with complex seating, positioning and/or functional needs.
Searsmiths won the category Best Innovation from a Start Up Business. They’ve used clever design and manufacturing of “the Forge”, an alternative to traditional BBQs which provides a steakhouse-quality cooking experience at home.
“It’s truly sensational to see the standard of innovation and the breadth of new ideas and technologies being developed in our own backyard.
So the Innovation Awards is our way of recognising the range of businesses out there that may not be getting the recognition that they deserve, who are innovating and who have a bright future because they’re innovating.
It’s a good opportunity to recognise those people, give them a pat on the back and a good opportunity for them to give their staff a pat on the back as well because they turn up every day and do what they’re doing and if the business itself is not getting the recognition then neither are they.
Also it just helps them to position themselves in the marketplace. Whilst people may not have heard of BridgePoint Group, the fact that there is an award and they have won an award might give people pause to think.
So that’s the reason for the Innovation Awards.”
Neil was joined by EnGeneIC’s Dr Jennifer MacDiarmid, and Dr Himanshu Brahmbhatt; and Iain Hogg and Rhonda Hogg from 24 Hour Positioning.
In addition to celebrating their win, the lunch was also an opportunity for the winners to share their stories and to network with Innovation Awards judges Tony, Marco and Alan.
If you’re excited about your business’ innovation, contact Alan at BridgePoint Group to discuss our 2020 Innovation Awards.
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