Member Article

300% sales growth for Northumberland electric vehicle specialist

A Northumberland electric vehicle specialist has recorded 300% year on year sales growth and expect to hit £1m in turnover in the next few months.

Hyperdrive Innovation, headquartered in Cramlington, participated in research and development programmes worth £750k over the past four years - enabling the firm to expand its capabilities to work with a range of other vehicles and electrically powered equipment for use both onshore and offshore.

The company, set up four years ago, has launched six new commercial products last year, and are targeting the subsea sector and electric hybrid technology for expansion.

The Hyperdrive Innovation team

Their electronics can be integrated into vehicle designs or retrofitted to vehicles to deliver enhanced performance, optimal energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions.

Stephen Irish, managing director of Hyperdrive Innovation, said: “We have demonstrated a pedigree and built up a national reputation in vehicle electronics over the last four years by impressing much larger and more established automotive companies.

“Passenger and industrial vehicles remain our primary market, however, the technologies we have developed have opened up further opportunities in the marine and defence sectors which we are very excited about.”

Hyperdrive Innovation’s recent projects include the development of an unmanned marine research vessel, a wading truck adaption for the Ministry of Defence, and an electric conversion of an Enfield 8000 for a novel engineering project being undertaken by automotive journalist and TV presenter on Fifth Gear, Johnny Smith.

They are currently delivering high profile research and development programmes for the Technology Strategy Board, Niche Vehicle Network and EU FP7.

Hyperdrive Innovation has benefited from Newcastle Science City’s business support services to help them to develop their market strategy and rebrand the company with a new website and targeted marketing campaign. They are working with Horizonworks Marketing, one of Science City’s four approved providers of marketing services as part of the business support programme.

Mike Addison, business support manager at Newcastle Science City says: “Our business support service is very easy to access, provides a fast decision on the level of financial support available and also does all the heavy lifting to ensure the work is completed on time and to a high standard. It has been a pleasure to provide this support to Hyperdrive Innovation and see the company go on to develop and grow as a result.”

Stephen Irish adds: “We have been extremely pleased with the business support provided by Newcastle Science City. This work has helped inform business development plans and has provided a timely marketing push to help continue to drive the business forward.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Graham Vincent .