Alice and Dan discuss funding for a Somerset-based grill company, new headquarters for a car component manufacturer, and an interview with an acoustics specialist in Kent.
00:00An interview with an innovative acoustics company, a grill firm with celebrity owners, and growth for a high-end car manufacturing company.
00:08That's all coming up on today's Business Briefing.
00:16Good morning, Dan.
00:18Morning, Alice.
00:18So, I believe you did a really interesting interview last week, actually.
00:22I did. I really enjoyed this interview.
00:24So, it was with Ben Hancock, who is Managing Director of Oscar Acoustics, based down in Kent.
00:28So, they offer acoustic decorative finishes, and basically, most of their work is to spray ceilings.
00:34It's a physical spray to reduce reverberation.
00:37So, if you've ever been in, like, a noisy restaurant where you can't hear the people at the table, and you're leaning in to try and hear them.
00:42It really, like, puts you off the conversation you're trying to have.
00:45Yeah, it definitely does.
00:46Basically, he's got the solution for that.
00:48So, he sprays the ceilings, and it makes it a lot more manageable.
00:50But most of their work is for offices, and he says there are major health issues linked to too much noise exposure,
00:56including things like heart disease and diabetes, which I didn't know.
01:00But then there's also more obvious things like tinnitus.
01:03And, you know, it's just a problem I wasn't even aware of, really.
01:07He's pointed out that they are kind of pioneers in the industry.
01:10They've been doing this for about 26 years.
01:12The company was founded by his dad back in 1978, actually, so it's family-owned.
01:17So, yeah, they've been going for about 25 years in specializing in the acoustic sprays.
01:21But it's taken almost two decades for another company to sort of come up with this and challenge them and offer some competition.
01:27But he said to me that they're basically making the same mistakes as Oscar Acoustics did when they started out.
01:31So, they're kind of firmly ahead in the game there.
01:35But in terms of challenges, he's told me that their biggest challenge is that they're growing too fast.
01:39It's a challenge to have.
01:40It is, yeah, that's kind of ideal.
01:42As much as 400% growth in the last year.
01:45And I think their plan in the long term is to maintain that level of growth without compromising the quality of the services that they offer.
01:52They're about to launch a new initiative as well to make music venues around the UK more exclusive and accessible for neurodivergent people or people with implants who, you know, have potentially lost their hearing.
02:03Because a lot of them, they can't go to these music venues because it's too overwhelming.
02:07So, I think that's a, you know, a really nice scheme.
02:09They're doing it free of charge as well, he's told me.
02:11So, just a really nice initiative.
02:13And it was a very interesting interview.
02:15Lots of problems that I didn't know existed and solutions that I didn't know existed.
02:19So, I definitely recommend checking it out on the website.
02:22Yeah, that is really interesting.
02:23Because also, you do hear about kind of issues with noise in like venues and stuff like that and music venues and how it's really bad for you.
02:31But you don't actually consider how that noise impacts you at work or in a restaurant.
02:34Yeah.
02:34You don't think that that's safe.
02:36You do, you just don't realise.
02:37And I definitely seem to have a mental effect on people.
02:39You know, people might dismiss that and think that's a lot of rubbish.
02:41But I think there really is an effect.
02:43Yeah, definitely.
02:45Well, that's a really interesting one.
02:47Moving on to a deal now.
02:50A grill company with celebrity owners has doubled in size after securing some funding.
02:55So, the Somerset Grill Co. is an Argentinian-inspired acid oil grill company.
03:01So, its owners include rugby player and TV pundit David Flattman, as well as Tom Kola-Cadmore, who's also a rugby player, and George Groves, the boxer.
03:12Now, the business was actually set up after its founder was working on a super yacht and he was using its custom-made acid oil grill.
03:20And I guess he really enjoyed it and wanted to sell them, make them more accessible, I suppose.
03:27So, you don't have to have a super yacht in order to have one of those.
03:30And since securing successive funding by Swig Finance, the business has also brought its manufacturing in-house and it's sold 1,000 products.
03:39So, it looks like they're going well.
03:42That's a really cool company.
03:43Might look at their grills for my barbecues in the summer.
03:46Anyway, moving up north now, a Sheffield-based startup has raised £2.5 million to develop what it aims to be the world's first memory-safe computer chip.
03:55So, SCI Semiconductor secured the investment in a round led by Mercia Ventures with backing from angel investors in the UK and Silicon Valley.
04:03SCI's technology sort of addresses the issue of memory safety, a factor in around 70% of cyberattacks.
04:11It's quite topical at the moment.
04:12Yeah, very topical.
04:13Yeah.
04:13Unlike traditional systems, which allow open access to memory, their chip enforces strict controls by dividing memory into secure compartments.
04:21And they say this could cut cybersecurity costs and reduce the need for constant software patching that's needed.
04:28And their funding will support plans to build a team of engineers in Sheffield and bring the product to market.
04:33And it's also, in a more general sense, set to support job creation and drive innovation in the north.
04:38So, definitely quite an interesting, innovative company to keep an eye on.
04:41Yeah, one of those companies that sounds very useful, but also very complicated.
04:47Yeah, very much so.
04:48Hard to work out exactly what's going on.
04:50But good news for them.
04:51Well, finally, a high-end car component manufacturer, which works with very well-known names such as JLR, Aston Martin and Bentley,
05:00is looking to expand into the public transport sector after moving to a new site in Coventry.
05:06So, Merchant King Group basically designs and manufactures complex, movable components in cars.
05:13So, that includes things such as window regulators, wiper systems, and automatic folding mirrors.
05:21Now, it's moved to the site at Sovereign Court, and that's at the University of Warwick Science Park.
05:27And, basically, they've established a really good foothold in the car market, but they do want to grow further.
05:34And the way they're going to do that is by moving into public transport.
05:38So, they're looking to grow their 14-strong team at the base, and new products will include controllers for automatic doors on trains.
05:46Very good. Well, that's a lot of manufacturing today, I've just realized.
05:49I think that's all we have time for today.
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