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Breath analysis medical device manufacturer recognised as Technology Business of the Year at the Kent Excellence in Business Awards 2018.

On Thursday 21st June at the Kent Excellence in Business Awards (KEiBA), second-generation family business, Bedfont, was pleased to receive the accolade for Technology Business of the Year 2018. Now in its 10th year, the awards ceremony recognises the achievements of businesses in Kent, with this ceremony being the biggest to date at a record-breaking 320 plus number of entries this year.

Pete Kenyon, Partner at Cripps and Judge for the Technology Business of the Year category, said, “Bedfont impressed the judges on a number of levels. They have taken their knowledge of breath analysis and adapted their products to meet new needs in other medical fields as well as innovating their products throughout the years to meet new demands and markets and to remain current with the ever-changing technology landscape. It is great to see a business in Kent so successfully penetrating global markets and I have no doubt their success story will have many new chapters to follow. 

Jason Smith, Managing Director at Bedfont, comments, “Winning Technology Business of the Year is truly a proud moment for the Bedfont Family. This year, we’ll have been in business for 42 years, and we’ve come such a long way and worked so hard to get breath analysis recognised. According to the UK Business Survey, there are 10,930 businesses in Kent within the professional, scientific and technical sector; so to be recognised as still among those at the forefront of medical technology and innovation today is phenomenal.”

Second-generation family business, Bedfont goes through to the final round of the Kent Excellence in Business Awards for 2 categories

An annual ceremony organised by the KM Group and Kent County Council, the Kent Excellence in Business Awards (KEiBA) recognises companies across Kent and rewards their excellence and achievements. 2018 marks the 10th anniversary of the prestigious KEiBAs and Bedfont Scientific Ltd. is proud to say that it has been named finalists for both Technology Business of the Year and a new category, Family Business of the Year.

Jason Smith, Managing Director, says, “To have been chosen as a finalist in 2 categories is truly an honour, especially as KEiBA received a record-breaking 320 plus number of entries this year. The Bedfont Family works so hard and just to be named as a finalist is great recognition for all they do. We look forward to the awards ceremony in June and wish all finalists in the 16 categories the best of luck.” 

How the world’s first Smokerlyzer® monitor for your smartphone can help you quit smoking.

World No Tobacco Day falls on May 31st every year and encourages smokers to abstain from tobacco for at least 24 hours as a start to kicking the habit. It also aims to raise more awareness of the dangers surrounding tobacco consumption and smoking; statistics published earlier in March from the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that tobacco use is directly responsible for over 6 million deaths a year, but even more shockingly, a further 890,000 deaths are those of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke[1]. Whilst there are many methods to help people quit smoking, many studies have shown that carbon monoxide (CO) monitoring has proven to be very effective in monitoring and encouraging a person’s quit attempt and this World Tobacco Day you have the chance to win a personal CO monitor[2].

A study by Beard and West on the effectiveness of personal carbon monoxide monitoring, found that 7/10 people “felt as though the monitors had reduced their cigarette consumption” whilst 6/10 smokers “reported a lower nicotine dependency… over the 6 weeks, there appeared to be a significant decline in the number of cigarettes smoked per day”[3].

The iCO™ is the world’s first Smokerlyzer® CO monitor that connects to your smartphone/tablet. Small, sleek and portable, this personal CO monitor enables you to monitor your CO levels, track your progress and share your results; simply download the app and be motivated to quit smoking, anytime, anywhere. Through a simple, non-invasive breath test this monitor measures the harmful levels of CO in the blood caused by smoking; the more you smoke, the higher the reading but as you start your quit attempt, you can track your readings as they fall.

To be entered into the prize draw, simply visit www.icoquit.co.uk/pages/competition and sign up to the mailing list where you will also receive facts and tips to help you quit smoking.

REFERENCES

1.     Tobacco [Internet]. World Health Organization. 2018 [cited 9 May 2018]. Available from: http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco

2.     Use of Expired Air Carbon Monoxide Testing in Clinical Tobacco Treatment Settings. Goldstein, Adam O. et al. CHEST , Volume 153 , Issue 2 , 554 – 562

3.     Beard E, West R. Pilot Study of the Use of Personal Carbon Monoxide Monitoring to Achieve Radical Smoking Reduction. Journal of Smoking Cessation. 2012;7(01):12-17.

Bedfont Scientific Ltd. is proud to share its company’s statistics on International Women’s Day

International Women’s day has occurred every 8th March since the early 1900’s and celebrates women’s achievements, whilst also calling for gender equality[1]. Whilst women have made great strides both politically and socially over the past century, the highly contentious issue of gender equality is one that remains at large still today; the latest controversy highlighted in the news that of gender pay gap. Bedfont Scientific Ltd., a second-generation family business based in Harrietsham, is proud to celebrate International Women’s day.

The small company of 40 employees is proud to share that 43% of its workforce is made up of women and furthermore 50% of their management team.

Bedfont, a medical device manufacturer known for their innovation, doesn’t limit their ideas to just their products; making them a very progressive company. Bedfont’s latest statistics show that 68% of the workforce consists of members aged 35 and under, meaning a high majority of staff are parents with young children.

With that in mind, Bedfont created the Kids Club, whereby staff can bring their children to work for one week in each of the school holidays. Bedfont® funds the requisite number of professional DBS checked nannies required plus activities and outings for the children to learn and have fun, relieving the need to find childcare.

Jason Smith, Managing Director, comments, “At Bedfont, we take many measures to not discriminate against anyone for any reason, including gender. International Women’s day is for recognising extraordinary women and so I would like to take this chance to thank the women of Bedfont for their continued support, hard work and inspiration. We are proud to be such a gender diverse company.”

REFERENCES

1. Sanghani R. International Women’s Day 2017: What is it, how did it start and why is it so important? [Internet]. The Telegraph. 2018

[cited 5 February 2018]

. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/international-womens-day-2017-did-start-important/

Lucy Tomlinson, Workplace Health Activator for Kent Sport and Physical Activity Service opens a new break-out room for local company, Bedfont Scientific Ltd.

Amidst increasing concerns after the push from The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry for the Heads Together campaign, mental health and well-being at work has come under the spotlight. Local medical device manufacturer, Bedfont, has been taking strides to improve their employee well-being, and their latest project is a new break-out room, which will be opened by Lucy Tomlinson.

According to the latest figures from the Mental Health at Work report, “60% of employees have experienced a mental health problem due to work or where work was a contributing factor at some point in their career”1, making employee well-being a key issue that businesses are now striving to address.

On Thursday 3rd May, Bedfont’s latest idea was brought to life; a break-out room for employees to eat, relax, and hang out. The break-out room is simply an area set aside from the busy offices where staff can eat their lunch, chill on the beanless bags, receive PEMF therapy, and even play table tennis or uno!

For the past couple of years, Bedfont has taken several other measures to help contribute to improving employee well-being and morale. This includes organising more physical activities, providing a wide range of fruit, celebrating achievements with employee of the month and year awards, workiversary celebrations and a flexi-hours scheme. Furthermore, now that the warmer months are arriving, the weekly walks and after-work fitness classes are recommencing, all which promote a healthy lifestyle, plus boost well-being and mentality.

In fact, Bedfont has appointed 2 Well-being Warriors, Jade and Niki, to make sure that this healthy trend continues and to come up with more new and inspiring ways to motivate everyone and get people moving. Their first act was to gift the Bedfont family with their own personalised water bottles complete with a hydration tracker.

Jason Smith, Managing Director, says, “We are more than just a company, we are the Bedfont family, and I feel personally responsible for the health and well-being of everyone here. Of course, we offer the traditional benefits such as healthcare, but I believe it is the strategies we have put in place to care for our employees above and beyond the standard that makes them feel happy and at ease whilst at work. This new break-out room will hopefully encourage more employees to socialise and take a break when it’s needed; I know all too well how easy it is to lock yourself away working and without a break, even eating lunch at my desk. This is something I’d like to change because it is very easy to get stressed and bogged down which can, in turn, affect your health. Each member of the Bedfont family works tirelessly and they deserve this break-out room for a bit of fun and relaxation. ”

REFERENCES

1.     Business in the Community. Mental Health at Work Report 2017. London: Business in the Community; 2018.

How the FeNO monitor from Bedfont Scientific Ltd. can help GP’s and patients with a more accurate diagnosis and management of asthma.

World Asthma Day, organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), occurs every 1st May to raise awareness and improve asthma care around the world1. The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that approximately 300 million people currently suffer from asthma and the diseases is estimated to have been attributable to 383,000 deaths in 2015 alone2. NObreath® FeNO monitor, recommended by NICE2, provides GP’s and patients with a quick and non-invasive method of measuring airway inflammation to improve the diagnosis and management of asthma.

Typically, asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that causes difficulty in breathing3, however, according to Asthma UK, it is the over-simplification of asthma that leads to the over-, under-, and mis-diagnosis of asthma. The report has sparked concerns over the number of people not responding to medication, being misdiagnosed with asthma, and the mis-understanding of different asthma subtypes. Bedfont has specialised in the design and manufacture of breath analysis medical devices for over 40 years and in 2017 their NObreath® FeNO monitor celebrated 10 years of improving asthma management. Bedfont have been campaigning vigorously to raise awareness of FeNO measuring and its benefits, especially after the increasing concerns surrounding asthma.

Bedfont hopes to help improve basic asthma care and save future lives with the NObreath®, which is also conformed to ATS and ERS guidelines4. The NObreath® works by measuring FeNO through breath analysis, making the process quick, simple and non-invasive for both the GP and the patient. Interpreting FeNO levels aids in identifying patients who do/do not require on-going treatment5 whilst also differentiating between allergic (eosinophilic) and non-allergic asthma6, and if used daily, FeNO measurements can help to predict exacerbations and attacks.7

Jason Smith, Managing Director of Bedfont, says, “On November 29th 2017, NICE published the final guidelines on Asthma: diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management, to improve asthma care, which included our NObreath® FeNO monitor. Using FeNO measurements to evaluate airway inflammation in asthma represents a significant advance in respiratory medicine that had been expensive to deliver in everyday practice, until now with the NObreath®. The theme for World Asthma Day this year is ‘never too early, never too late’ and I believe that can definitely be said about FeNO monitoring in asthma care.”

Dr. Stephen O’Hickey, a Respiratory Consultant at Worcestershire Acute NHS Trust, comments, “FeNO monitoring has been a big development in the management of difficult asthma in peripheral clinics. We first chose to use the NObreath® because we needed a cost-effective and easily portable device for community-based clinics and it has proven to be a valuable tool in monitoring asthma control. By assessing patient’s FeNO levels frequently, we are able to investigate symptoms such as the cause of coughing and identify triggers, helping us to differentiate if it is an inflammatory or non-inflammatory subtype of asthma. This, in turn, enables us to identify the correct inhaled corticosteroids, but also adjust the level of medication, if needed, safely and accurately.”

REFERENCES

1.      World Asthma Day [Internet]. Global Initiative for Asthma – GINA. 2018 [cited 20 April 2018]. Available from: http://ginasthma.org/wad/

2.      Measuring fractional exhaled nitric oxide concentration in asthma: NIOX MINO, NIOX VERO and NObreath | Guidance and guidelines | NICE [Internet]. Nice.org.uk. 2014 [cited 20 April 2018]. Available from: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/dg12

3.      Asthma [Internet]. World Health Organization. 2018 [cited 20 April 2018]. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs307/en/

4.      ATS/ERS Recommendations for Standardized Procedures for the Online and Offline Measurement of Exhaled Lower Respiratory Nitric Oxide and Nasal Nitric Oxide, 2005; American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine; vol. 171: 912-930;2005

5.      Andrew D. Smith, Jan O. Cowan, Sue Filsell, Chris MacLachlan, Gabrielle Monti-Sheehan, Pamela Jackson and D. Robin Taylor. Diagnosing Asthma: Comparisons between Exhaled Nitric Oxide Measurements and Conventional Tests. Am J Respir Crit Care Med Vol 169. pp 473-478, 2004.

6.      Coumou HBel E. Improving the diagnosis of eosinophilic asthma [Internet]. Taylor and Francis online. 2017 [cited 20 April 2018]. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17476348.2017.1236688

7.      Harkins M. Exhaled Nitric Oxide Predicts Asthma Exacerbation [Internet]. Taylor & Francis. 2017 [cited 20 April 2018]. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1081/JAS-120033990

Maidstone, Kent, tackled the heatwave on Sunday to run the London Marathon for Asthma UK

Local man, Andy Smith, finally runs his first marathon on Sunday 22nd April after an injury set him back last year.

Asthma, a chronic respiratory disease which can also be fatal, has been raising more concerns than ever after Asthma UK found that over 120,000 asthma sufferers in the UK are at risk from wrongly prescribed medication and a study by NICE revealed that 30% of people with asthma are suspected to have been misdiagnosed.

“I chose Asthma UK for many reasons, but mainly I want to raise awareness of the dangers of asthma and just how many people it affects; approximately 250,000 people die prematurely each year from asthma and almost all of these deaths are avoidable1. As someone who was misdiagnosed with asthma myself, I understand its importance and want others to be aware.”

“I was all set to partake in the Marathon last year but 2 weeks before I unfortunately injured my Achilles and was unable to take part. After PEMF therapy and rest I was able to start training again. All my training was in the winter, so none of it had prepared me for the hottest London Marathon ever recorded, but I did it and I’m pretty happy with my time, 4 hours and 37 minutes.”

Andy’s company, Bedfont® also manufactures the NObreath® FeNO monitor, which has been helping to improve asthma diagnosis and management for over 10 years. Known as the unpredictable killer because, according to Asthma UK, it is still very much a misunderstood condition, Andy also wants to raise awareness of how the NObreath® can address these concerns. Interpreting FeNO levels with the NObreath® can aid in identifying patients who do/do not require on-going treatment2, whilst differentiating between allergic (eosinophilic) and non-allergic asthma3. If used daily, FeNO measurements can also help to predict exacerbations and attacks4.

Andy was one of many who ran 26.2 miles in the record-breaking heat. After fundraising through coffee mornings, raffles and getting his legs waxed live on Facebook, Andy managed to raise £1810 for the charity, which aims to raise awareness of the chronic respiratory disease.

REFERENCES

1.     Asthma Statistics | AAAAI [Internet]. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. 2018 [cited 23 April 2018]. Available from: http://www.aaaai.org/about-aaaai/newsroom/asthma-statistics

2.     Andrew D. Smith, Jan O. Cowan, Sue Filsell, Chris MacLachlan, Gabrielle Monti-Sheehan, Pamela Jackson and D. Robin Taylor. Diagnosing Asthma: Comparisons between Exhaled Nitric Oxide Measurements and Conventional Tests. Am J Respir Crit Care Med Vol 169. pp 473-478, 2004.

3.     Coumou HBel E. Improving the diagnosis of eosinophilic asthma [Internet]. Taylor and Francis online. 2017 [cited 20 April 2018]. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17476348.2017.1236688

4.     Harkins M. Exhaled Nitric Oxide Predicts Asthma Exacerbation [Internet]. Taylor & Francis. 2017 [cited 20 April 2018]. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1081/JAS-120033990

Bedfont Scientific Ltd. need the public to vote for them to become the European Public Champion and represent the UK in the European Business Awards.

The European Business Awards, sponsored by RSM, is a cross-industry and cross-border business competition which aims to recognise and reward companies that help tackle the major issues faced by Europe and the world. Bedfont has submitted their video entry to represent the UK and now needs the help of the public to be voted the European Public Winner.

Established in 1976, Bedfont specialises in the design and manufacture of breath analysis medical devices. These include carbon monoxide (CO) monitors such as the Smokerlyzer, used for smoking cessation, and the ToxCO, to screen for CO poisoning. Their NObreath FeNO monitor helps to improve asthma management, whilst the Gastrolyzer range aids in the detection of gastrointestinal disorders and food intolerances. With only 42 members in the Bedfont family, they are revered as pioneers in the breath analysis market with products available in over 70 countries.

Jason Smith, Managing Director at Bedfont, says, “We’re a niche British company with innovative products that really have an impact on people’s lives. We have made a video entry for the awards which tells you a little more about who the Bedfont family are and what we do. With less than a month to go, we really need your help – please watch our video and find out why you should pick us we would love to represent the UK!”

To watch the video and vote for Bedfont, please click here: https://www.businessawardseurope.com/vote/detail-new/28/23920. To vote, you need to enter your email (bottom right) and then click the confirmation link you will receive by email. Public voting closes at 17:00 (CET) on Friday 4th May 2018.

Bedfont Scientific Ltd. are thrilled to be named Exporter of the Year for the second year running at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce Awards.

The prestigious Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce Awards, which acknowledge and celebrate the top businesses in Kent, were held on Thursday 22nd March at Canterbury Cathedral Lodge. Bedfont were delighted to pick up the accolade for the Exporter of the Year for the second year in a row.

Established in 1976, Bedfont is a second generation family company that specialises in the design and manufacture of breath and gas analysis equipment, with its wide range of products now found in over 76 countries worldwide.

Jason Smith, managing director, comments, “We are so proud to have been named Exporter of the Year and for the second year in a row too. This really means a lot to the Bedfont Family because, for a small company of only 41 members, it is no easy feat to have exports account for over 80% of our turnover but each and every member works tirelessly to make this possible. It also would not be possible without our trusted network of distributors across the globe, who enable us to expand our reach and continue innovating health worldwide – we can’t wait to share the news with them!”

This news follows Bedfont’s win at the FSB Awards, also for Exporter of the Year, and their being named in the Ones to Watch list for the European Business Awards, where they are still in with the chance of being crowned European Public Champion with the help of the public. To watch Bedfont’s video and vote for them, click here: https://www.businessawardseurope.com/vote/detail-new/28/23920

Bedfont Scientific Ltd., based in Kent, has won Exporter of the Year for the South East Region in the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Awards 2018

The FSB Awards exist to promote and recognise innovation, enterprise and accomplishment in 12 areas across the UK[1]. On Tuesday 6th March, the South East FSB awards took place and Bedfont is pleased to announce it was named Exporter of the Year.

Bedfont specialises in the design and manufacture of breath analysis medical devices, which are distributed worldwide thanks to its unique network of distributors. This is the first-ever regional award that the company has won in its 40 years of trading.

Jason Smith, Managing Director, comments, “We are humbled to have been named Exporter of the Year for the South East region and congratulations also to all the other finalists; it is an achievement in itself to be included amongst such fierce competition. Thank you to the Bedfont Family and our distributors for their dedication and tireless efforts which enable us to be here today.”

As a category winner of the South East FSB awards, Bedfont will now go on to be a national finalist for the Exporter of the Year against the 12 other regional winners of the same category. The national FSB awards will take place at the Westminster Park Plaza in London on 3 May 2018.

REFERENCES

1. FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards 2018 [Internet]. Fsb.org.uk. 2018 [cited 12 February 2018]. Available from: https://www.fsb.org.uk/events/fsb-celebrating-small-business-awards-2018