A Blackpool company has scooped a £5,000 prize in a top UK business awards. TISS Limited – which designs security systems for lorry trailers – has won the ‘runner up’ award in HSBC Bank’s search for UK’s top entrepreneurs.
Alex McCracken of TISS Limited was presented with a trophy and cheque in front of an audience of 250 business men and women at London’s Savoy Hotel last week.
His company, TISS Limited, was born after repeated break-ins and thefts of trailers drove him and his team to use their 30 years transport and electrical engineering experience to develop a patented trailer alarm.
TISS Ltd was founded in June 2001 to sell its alarming solution to other hauliers battling thefts which are thought to cost the haulage industry £600 million a year in the UK.
The company has gone to develop a range of security systems, including 120-decibel alarms, mobile text alerts to notify drivers of illegal entry and software allowing security managers to turn off alarms from their computers.
Its clients now include blue chip companies such as Ferrari Formula One, Argos, Littlewoods, Tesco and three of Europe’s largest hauliers, an awards spokesman said.
The company fought off competition from 500 other businesses to make it into the final ten, before being chosen as runner-up.
John Randall, HSBC’s head of business banking, said: “This year’s awards have been the hardest to judge so far. The quality and breadth of applications really highlights the imagination, flair and sound business skills of entrepreneurs in Britain.
“TISS Limited stands out as an inspiring example of how creativity and innovation can be combined with solid business disciplines to create enterprises with exciting potential.”
