Local self storage operator Lok’nStore is part of a rapidly growing AIM listed business and is the market leader in the South-East region. The centre at Crockford Lane, Chineham Park, Basingstoke offers 30,000 sq ft of storage space for individuals, households and businesses. Including stores in development, the company will be offering a total of 1.22 million sq ft of storage space across South East England.

Lok’nStore announced strong financial results for the six months up to 31st January 2008.  With 19 stores open, the company has produced a record turnover of £5.52 million during the same period, and secured three additional sites in Portsmouth, Maidenhead and Northampton.

Andrew Jacobs, Hampshire resident and Chief Executive of Lok’nStore, commented:

I feel the company’s financial results are a just reflection for all the hard work we have put in. We are delighted to be in our current position so we can continue to expand our business into new territory and increase the service we offer to our current trading locations.

Scott Wilson Group plc, today issued a trading update prior to the announcement of its preliminary results for the year ended 27 April 2008 on 26 June 2008.

The Group is pleased to report that robust demand for Scott Wilson’s services continued in all its markets through the second half of the year with the order book being maintained at record levels.

Scott Wilson continues to see excellent opportunities for growth especially in its International Division. In April, the Group announced a strategic joint venture with the Chongqing Communications Planning Survey & Design Institute in South-West China. The joint venture, Chongqing Scott Wilson, will capitalise on the combined strength of the two organisations and create additional business opportunities across the region. Scott Wilson has a growing presence in Greater China with a total of nine offices.

As announced in March, Hugh Blackwood became Group Chief Executive on 1 May 2008 and Ron Wall, joint Chief Executive, stepped down from the Board on the same date. The Board remains optimistic about the Group’s future prospects and expects results for the full year to be in line with market expectations.

Scott Wilson Group plc, with over 6,000 members of staff, is an international consultancy offerin integrated professional services in the transportation, property, environment and natural resources sectors.

The Group has doubled in size over the past few years and from its UK headquarters in Basingstoke currently controls a worldwide network of 80 offices, of which 40 are in the UK. The main international centres are located in China, Hong Kong, India, SE Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Southern Africa.

OmniTek, the product division of Image Processing Techniques Ltd based in Wade Road, Basingstoke, has today joined an elite group of companies by winning a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category for their OmniTek XR image analysis system.

The OmniTek XR is specifically designed for colorists and postproduction editors working in a high-definition, dual-link and 2k digital cinema environments and since the launch in 2005 it has become the system of choice for high-end post-production facilities around the world from Soho to Hollywood. Mike Hodson, president of OmniTek commented:

The UK has an impressive reputation for innovation in TV and film technology and therefore to win one of the UK’s most prestigious awards for business performance in our tenth anniversary year is a major achievement. It cements our growing reputation as a true leader in the broadcast test and measurement industry.

The OmniTek XR provides the highest precision video and audio analysis capabilities available on any waveform monitor, allowing detailed examination of the colourimetry and gamut of the specific material being processed. The OmniTek XR is now being used for image analysis and quality control in many of the world’s leading post-production facilities including The Mill, Framestore CFC, and Molinare. The XR has been used on high-profile projects such as the new Dr. Who and Harry Potter film series. Hodson continued:

We are delighted that the OmniTek XR has been recognised through the Queen’s Award, and this achievement will provide a springboard for our continued commitment to develop some of the most innovative products available for the broadcast test & measurement market. For example: watch out for our new DataLab – the first and only 3Gbit/s compatible full-motion signal generator combined with a comprehensive data analyzer – unveiled at NAB 2008 just last week.

Customers of Image Processing Techniques have included Sony Broadcast, Tandberg, Harris, Wolfson, Pandora, Cine-tal and Quartz and the company’s engineering team has an international reputation for excellence.

Portix staff have moved into Micro Peripheral’s offices following the sale of the distributor by Manchester-based eXpansys. Micro Peripherals, also known as Micro-P, is an IT and technology distributor with offices in Chineham Park, Basingstoke, near Portix’s old headquarters. It is believed that Micro-P paid £1.15m for Portix.

Expansys managing director Roger Butterworth said:

Micro-Peripheral is keen to develop the business further and will aggressively chase new contracts with the likes of Sony Ericsson and Nokia.

They have seen opportunities in the mobile space, and following other mobile/IT partnerships like Computer 2000 and Brightstar, there are definitely important developments in convergence taking place.

Basingstoke-based Evacusafe will be exhibiting at the Health and Safety Expo at the NEC in Birmingham on 13th - 15th May.

The company have designed and manufacture an Evacuation Chair which is supplied to businesses and public bodies, such as schools and hospitals across the UK. The company are also expanding into Europe and are starting to export their product to the Middle East.

You can find Evacusafe on stand L72 if you are visiting the Health and Safety Expo later in the month.

Hampshire based Vitacress Salads (in Basingstoke & Deane) has won the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) Business Award for Sustainable Business – Environment, sponsored by the Environment Agency.

The judges commended Vitacress on their highly integrated approach to sustainability in their business. They achieved ISO 14001 in 2005. The company is striving for long-term sustainability leadership.

Vitacress Salads is a leading producer of organic and conventional fresh, prepared salads. The company operates a “follow the sun” philosophy, growing its produce outdoors on farms in Southern England, Portugal and Spain, requiring less pesticide and fertilizer input. Vitacress is unique in washing its salads only in pure spring water which is reused to grow watercress.

Vitacress Production & Technical Director, Steve Rothwell, said:

The reach and profile of the South East Business Awards represent a powerful platform from which to communicate our environmental credentials to customers and the local community - and being a winner is a great accolade to the efforts of all those staff that drive sustainability throughout the Vitacress operation.

Digby, Lord Jones, Minister for Trade & Investment, gave the keynote speech. He said:

The South East contains some of the country’s most exceptional businesses and these Awards are a great way of recognising the region’s achievements. I am particularly delighted these Awards have been designed to recognise sustainability as I firmly believe that business must constantly think about its place in this changing world if it wants to be truly successful.

For more information visit www.southeastbusinessawards.co.uk

Another increase in traffic for April for Basingstoke Business News - up 25% on March and 217% on April 2007.

Thanks for the support and keep that Basingstoke News coming.

We have also decided to re-invigorate the website with some new ’stuff’ so if there is anything you’d like to see, please contact us.

Motorola said that the acquisition of Sendos R&D team and patent portfolio in June as well as the relocation of its mobile division to larger offices in Basingstoke this month showed that UK growth continued. It is understood that UK job cuts have been insignificant.

We havent broken the figures down by country claimed EMEA director of communications Mark Durrant. Staff that have been affected have been informed already so the filing to the SEC was not new to them.

The headcount wont necessarily go down anyway because of the acquisitions including the Sendo R&D facility in the UK an i-mode development team in France and lots of engineering and manufacturing elements.Via. Mobile News International