Local Firm 'Charged Up' For Success

Two awards for inventor of secure ways of charging mobiles in public places

The staff pictured with Konnie Huq who presented the awards

A Chiswick business which was the first in the world to come up with a secure way of charging mobile phones, has won two business awards.

The team at Chargebox, which is based in Bollo Lane, picked up Technology Business of the Year and Manufacturing and Engineering Business of the ear at the 2017 West London Business Awards last week. The awards were presented by television presenter Konnie Huq.

Chargebox expects to complete six million phone charges this year, and can be seen in centres such as John Lewis, Selfridges and Westfield Stratford. They are also based in large companies, at casinos, universities and outside retail centres and have devices in all of the top ten shopping malls in the UK.

With the growth in mobile phone use for everything from shopping to checking in for flights, pyschological factors intervene when battery levels drop below a certain level for mobile phone users. People begin to experience anxiety when the battery drops to about 30 per cent or lower. The presence of a Chargebox, whether outside a supermarket, or in an airport, alleviates the anxiety and for the retailer, probably means they will continue to shop and therefore spend more.

At Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, there are an estimated 1 million uses of Chargebox per annum.

Chargebox was started in 2005 by Ian Hobson and now with business partner John Cheese, employs 27 people in its Bollo Lane base. They code, test, design, engineer and assemble in Chiswick. There are free standing, and wall mounted units, and a table top device is soon to come onto the market capable of charging up to eight devices at a time, and suitable for offices and restaurants.

The software in the Chargebox can communicate with the phone or Ipad and can optimise the charging, pinpointing exactly the right level of charge needed.

A spokesman said they were thrilled with the award.

Chiswick based Shepherds Bush Housing Group was named Community Investment Business of the Year in the Awards with judges saying ‘the list goes on and on’ of the community value added.

The awards promote talent and entrepreneurship and saw strong competition across 23 categories. For SBHG’s award, judges wanted to see ‘win-win benefits for your company and wider society alike.’

The Polish Bakery scooped company of the year at Awards ceremony which was held in Wembley. Finalists from all sectors attended, including retail, construction, hospitality and finance.

Traditional crafts such as baking and signwriting were also represented, as well as the very best of West London’s tech firms.

February 9, 2017