A panel of maintenance experts and an audience of maintenance professionals chosen Pickerings Lifts as winner of this year’s Lions’ Lair, a Dragons’ Den-inspired contest that took place at the Maintec 2012. The company was chosen for its innovative approach to maintenance.
Pickerings Lifts, won the competition with its new High Volume Low Speed (HVLS) fans, designed to provide an energy-efficient solution for large spaces. The new fans require much less energy than traditional air movement HVAC-based systems and provide year-round employee comfort and temperature.
In accepting the prize, Marcus Clissold, business development manager of Pickerings Lifts commented: “It’s fantastic to be winners, especially as the votes were from both the audience watching and the judging panel, all of whom are experienced maintenance professionals.”
Making up the judging panel were Leighton Parker, maintenance manager at Alliance Boots, Paul Dennis, technical facilities manager at Experian, and Professor Len Gelman, chairman in Vibro-Acoustic Monitoring at Cranfield University.
The HVLS fans produce a massive, cylindrical column of air that flows down to the floor and outward in all directions thanks to its patented airfoils (blades). This ‘horizontal floor jet’ pushes air a greater distance before it begins moving vertically and is then drawn back through the fan.
Clissold added: “We’re really pleased with the product, and how it works. A lot of thought has gone into putting this together and bringing it to market. So it’s a great to receive such positive feedback.”
A crowd of maintenance specialists watched the action unfold as Pickerings Lifts beat off competition from three other companies: Idhammar, Schad and C-Cubed.
Idhammar presented its new ‘Andon Signalling and Business Alerts’ product. Schad pitched ‘EXTEND7000,’ a fully functional mobile SCADA application, and C-Cubed showcased its new EXPiDERO Inspections system.
