Meet the 2018 Cambridge News Business Excellence Awards finalists - at home beauty devices

As in the past, the review process of this year's Business Excellence award includes a mix
Known and Unknownso-well known.
Our 2018 finalists include companies whose stories have been told many times on these and other pages, as well as companies that rarely enjoy their time in the spotlight.
In all cases it is a pleasure to hear what they have done in the last 12 months.
Without wanting to sound too exaggerated, what brings our finalists together is their desire to make a difference, whether for their customers, employees, the society as a whole, or
Another common theme is desire, an ambition to do more and do better, a sign of the Cambridge cluster over the years.
The winners will be announced at the King's College gala on Thursday, March 22. the special guest will be BBC deputy political editor John Pinar.
Now, look at the companies that are competing for the grand prize.
Have a team of former scientists and marketing professionals to create a niche market for yourself
Marketing agents for life sciences companies
"Cambridge is our ideal place, and our clients include a range of Cambridge companies, as well as companies based in Europe and the United States," said General Manager Paul Avery . ".
Founded five years ago, Biostrata has profits every year and enjoys 30-
40 per year.
Headquartered in Heston.
"As far as customers are concerned, our best option is for companies that sell technology to pharmaceutical or life sciences businesses," Paul added . ".
The discovery of drugs is a long and expensive process, but it will take a price to change this situation.
The consulting firm provides experts for pharmaceutical companies of all shapes and sizes to work on specific drug discovery projects, resulting in significant cost reductions.
Babraham has listed three of the world's top five pharmaceutical companies on its customer list and has achieved three million revenues in just four years, as well as healthy profits.
"We want to change the way people think about drug development, you don't need a big building and a huge research team," says David Grainger of RXCelerate . ".
Nowadays, video content is everywhere and you can see it just by looking at the website.
But the huge amount of promo means it's harder to notice than ever before, and that's why it appears.
The Sawston creative agency has worked with BAE Systems, Sport England and David Lloyd's health club in the past to provide high-quality promotional video content to customers in a range of industries and wants to be the world's number one digital creative agency.
"Cambridge is not considered the heart of a creative company, but we like to think that we are using the city as a new area of creativity," said CEO Colin Myers . ".
Getting better systems for public service agencies is the game name for Arcus, a company that has grown 491 over the last four years.
The company now offers more than 50 products and services covering a wide range of public service offerings and has been developing its software as a service to help it stand out from the collaboration
Founder Dennis carminsky called it a competitive market.
"We think we're part of the Cambridge ecosystem.
"Getting these awards is a huge boost for our team," said Kaminskiy . ".
You may not know the existence of technology and product design companies, but its work can be found in the products of well-known companies such as Avon and Dolos, as well as Pyrex
The company has enjoyed 35 growth in the past fiscal year, partners and Partners
Founder Mike Kann said the company has ambitious plans for the future, including adding an office on the east coast of the United States, saying to complement its team in Palo Alto, "We focus on reaching larger customers, entering new markets and expanding the services we provide. ".
"For 25 years, I have been trying to eliminate the fear of walking into the wine store," said founder Hal Wilson . ".
Anyone who has been to his shop or bar may agree with this and he has been very successful so far.
In terms of growth, CWM has been expanding its business to serve more hotels, restaurants and university colleges. In addition to developing a hybrid bar/shop model, the company operates at the Bridge Street flagship store elsewhere.
"If you want your favorite brand, we don't have to be where you go because we like to share great new wines with our customers," Hal said . ".
Founder Joe Fogel attended the jury with a large stack of disposable coffee cups.
They look very similar to what you will find, as Vaiopak specializes in making personalized disposable cups for independent coffee shops, with exclusive licenses for new coating technologies for paper cups, unlike the current options on the market, the technology can be completely recycled.
Marks and Spencer were early clients, and if the rapid growth of Saffron Walden could continue, other big names would join.
Look at this space.
As one of the biggest and best universities in Cambridge, it's been a great 12 months.
Established employers continue to lead in the field.
Although the past few years have not been friendly to the major markets of engineering software companies, such as the oil and gas industry, Aveva has gone through the difficulties and has performed strongly this year as the situation improves, the final interim results show 11.
Revenue increased by 5 percentage points and profits increased by 13 percentage points.
After completing the transformation and merger with Schneider Electric's software business in France, the company is expected to continue to grow.
A gem on the crown of the Cambridge life sciences group continues to pursue world domination at speed.
Headquartered in Cambridge Research Park, which provides tools and services to researchers engaged in gene editing and gene manipulation, last year it completed its £ 65 purchase of US rival Dharmacon.
Revenue continues to grow significantly, and the company will record impressive growth in 2016.
The outgoing CEO, Darlene Dysley, told the judges: "We are now revenue from products, and the number of customers increased significantly last year.
"It has come a long way since it was founded in the basement of New Jersey.
It is now a leading supplier of optical equipment, providing customers with a range of confusing products.
With global sales of over $200, thorlab's Buki Dada said: "A large part of our growth comes from OEMs that use our products and make them into their own products
"Its Ely operation is an important part of the company's success, as is its famous" lab snacks ", which were sent with the order.
According to Mike Howell, the company's general manager, who doesn't want to get a work/life balance is the key to publishing.
"We want to support our employees and empower them, and if we can do that, it's good for the business as well," he said . ".
The publishing company provides customers with a wide range of print and online services, including the new market research center Dali of Sheikh Mohammed.
Turnover was 7, an increase from 3 five years ago.
Sewell said that the CPL has been very focused on training and development since the management acquisition in 2016.
The company has also introduced shorter working days, which will certainly satisfy the staff.
"Our staff asked us to buy bigger vans, so we brought them," said Liam Connelly, our business director . ".
"It's a real family feeling for the company and everyone does their part.
CPS was founded 21 years ago to provide a range of electrical, mechanical and maintenance services to customers including the University of Cambridge real estate management team.
In addition to the large vans, the company also takes care of its employees through training and support as well as supporting charitable initiatives.
To celebrate its 21st birthday, it hopes to raise £ 21,000 for the Alzheimer's Association over a year
The activity plan is very long.
With an employee retention rate of over 95, marketing and publishing companies are clearly doing their part to keep it, er, the joy of genies.
"The key for us is that our employees feel trusted," said Sarah Sutton, head of human development at the company.
"We keep up to date with the company on a regular basis and everyone is trusted to work flexibly so that their working hours are adapted to their lives.
"There are a variety of benefits in the office in the center of Cambridge, while encouraging employees to register with the Elf Academy where they can learn new skills.
Sarah Jordan, who was only 24 years old, took over the beauty salon now known as Claire Finn, a business partner.
Although the two have no experience in running the business, they have turned the Sussex Street salon into one of the most popular salons in the city center, offering a wide range of treatments and products.
The salon's high level customer service scored 100 in two mysterious shopper visits organized by Cambridge tendering last year.
Sarah said: "I stopped my treatment in 2016 and gave me more time to think strategically about the industry.
Giving away 21 pianos may not sound like the most credible business plan for a music store, but that's what Cambridge did last year.
For more than 160 years, the store has been trading in the city in one form or another, donating musical instruments to a range of schools and institutions in the region after 21 piano concerts of Night Music, in the magnificent setting of King's College Church, 21 young local musicians played 21 piano at the same time.
There are many piano in it.
The same is true of the store, which has built a new showroom to accommodate them, as well as many other types of instruments available for sale or rental.
The manager of Carrie Pluck brought in some of the store's merchandise, including wallets, bags and a variety of other trinkets, to be presented to the judges.
The company's products come from artisans both locally and across the UK, which means that it is stock-packed and unusual.
"We want people to leave after visiting our experience," Carrie said . ".
"We like to tell the story of our stock and where it came from.
"Loyal Podarok fans can also listen to music played in the store at home as it is already available as a Spotify playlist.
Think about the vegetarian diet in Cambridge and think about the name right away.
Louise Palmer, founder of CamYoga
Vegan ton, a vegetarian cafe and restaurant that opened around the corner of Kabam last year, proved to be popular, and the company then added a second site on King Street, for those who need a vegetarian diet.
Louise did not stop and after joining the Virgin CrowdBoost accelerator program, she was finalizing plans to push the brand across the country, starting with another restaurant in London.
Cambridge today, the world of tomorrow . . . . . . How wonderful the voice of shazam is --
Recognition systems are often described, referring to popular apps that recognize songs by listening to them.
"We can make the machine hear the sound," said founder Chris Mitchell . ".
In fact, the company has come up with a set of "voice", a sound language that classifies the properties of various noises.
As you can imagine, this is very useful for devices such as anti-theft alarms, and the company's technology can be embedded in Intel, honeycomb, and our own weapons.
Raised $5.
In last year's round a financing, there was more money from the terminal company.
"Will you be comfortable with the surgeon putting this in your aorta ? " Dr. James Gough asked our judge that he was waving a few feet of medical equipment.
The idea of this device entering your body is not suitable for people who fainthearted (sorry)
But the guidance device is one of the biggest challenges for doctors since opening up surgery to more non-open surgery
Invasive Technology
Currently, surgeons usually have to rely on 2D X-
But Cydar has come up with a system that combines it with a 3D CT scan image.
Cloud of the company
The platform is based on the use of machine learning algorithms to map the location of a single patient and to precisely locate the position of the instrument.
Inventory tracking is a big problem for many stores and medical facilities.
Think it gives the answer in the form of an RFID reader system that can be hidden in ceiling tiles.
For unified tags, RFID tags are small and cheap tags that can be attached to the item and sent out RF so that they can be tracked.
The system already exists, but PervasID believes it has come up with a better version, and there are already customers in the retail and healthcare areas to prove it.
"RFID usually only works at 1-
2 m, but in a store, we tracked more than 100,000 items in an area of 4,000 square meters, "said founder sihamparansabesan.
Learning a new language correctly can take the ordinary person a lifetime, but they come up with a system that can do this in a few weeks.
The company managed to teach its system (unsurprisingly)
In two and a half weeks, machine learning technology is used to meet the needs of customer executives.
"We are building the next generation of speech recognition and providing alternatives to systems developed by tech giants," said CEO Benedikt von Thüngen . ".
What can we do about the skill crisis? This is a problem that keeps businesses in Cambridge and elsewhere scratching their heads, but rarely leads to any practical action.
Fortunately, I am here to help.
"We help young people understand the world of work so they can make confident decisions about what is right for them," co-
Founder Michaela Esbach, it turns out that they are pretty good at it.
Through a series of experience days, mentoring, and work experience programs, Form the Future has helped hundreds of school children find new careers and do particularly well in STEM.
Its small office in Shelford is having a global impact in the field of manual and small-scale mining.
The company helps ensure that the supply chain of mining companies meets ethical and human rights standards, as the way small coal mines are run in developing countries is often problematic.
"We looked at possible problems in the supply chain and found solutions to them," said founder Estelle Levin . "Nally.
Levin sources also worked with NGOs and charities as part of a major project to help protect gorilla habitat living in Congo.
Cambridge is full of cafes, but few have a lofty social mission of providing a way back to employment for those recovering from drug and alcohol problems.
"For people with a drug or alcohol problem, it's a safe place to work or volunteer," said Tom jeffford of the cafe . ".
"What they are doing is positive, and if you create an opportunity like this, it will really help people get back into society.
"In addition to the delicious coffee and cake available at Mill Road cafe, it is also the center of a variety of communities and support groups.
To be announced in the evening.