Hybrid firm named fastest growing Cleantech company

A UK leader in hybrid vehicle technologies has been named as Europe's fastest growing cleantech company.

Ashwoods Automotive Ltd grew turnover by almost 1,000 per cent in just three years, as it developed the market for its hybrid van system, the Ashwoods Hybrid Drive. This stellar growth was recognised in the Cleantech Connect 2010 awards, where Ashwoods was named as the fastest growing clean technology company in Europe.

In fact of the Top 25 of fastest growing European cleantech companies of 2010 identified by the awards, sixteen of them came from the UK. But none could beat the hybrid technology specialist which grew 944 per cent in three years, nearly double the growth of second-place firm GreenRoad, also a UK firm, with 480 per cent growth.

Hugh Campbell, Co-Founder and Partner at GP Bullhound, which hosts and presents the Cleantech Connect awards, said: "Ashwoods is helping to satisfy the huge appetite for cleaner vehicle technologies that can be implemented right now. The company's pragmatic approach to low carbon vehicles is winning new business from some of Britain's biggest fleets and delivering phenomenal growth."

Ashwoods Hybrid Drive can be fitted to any Ford Transit van in under four hours. It delivers an instant reduction in fuel consumption by 15-25 per cent, depending on the vehicle's drive cycle.

Mark Roberts, Managing Director at Ashwoods Automotive, said: "This award - and the growth that delivered it - further validates our business strategy of producing practical, affordable low carbon vehicle technologies.

"Fleet managers want technology they can implement today, so that is where we focus all of our efforts."

Ashwoods is the single largest supplier to the UK Government's Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme, delivering more than 120 hybrid vans to public sector bodies including the Royal Mail and Transport for London. As well as producing hybrid vans and a hybrid retro-fit solution, the firm also produced the UK's first stop/start engine system as a retro-fit and has a development pipeline of other cost-effective technologies for improving vehicle fuel consumption.

The company recently signed a US distribution deal and is seeking other partners to market its technology worldwide.

Source: The Green Car Website