Second generation family company, Bedfont®, based in Harrietsham, picks up trophy for Exporter of the year 2017 at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce Awards
On Thursday 30th March 2017, the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce
hosted its prestigious awards evening at the Canterbury Cathedral Lodge,
where Bedfont®, a small family business of less than 40 people, picked
up the sought after Exporter of the year 2017 award.
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 70
countries worldwide.
Andy Smith, sales manager, explains, “Bedfont®
operates through a network of distributors, of which the first ever
distributor was appointed in 1988 by our father Trevor Smith. In fact,
that relationship continues still today between myself and the
distributor’s daughter. It is more than a business arrangement; we see
our distributors as an extension of the Bedfont® family and it this
great relationship that enables us to continue expanding our reach
globally.”
Jason Smith, managing director, adds, “We are very
proud and grateful to accept the accolade Exporter of the year 2017
from the KICC. I’d like to dedicate this award to the Bedfont® family,
who is not only my biological family, but the hardworking staff at
Bedfont® and our distributors, without whom we would not be here today.”
Second generation family company, Bedfont®, based in Harrietsham, picks up trophy for Exporter of the year 2017 at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce Awards
New year, new face and new brand for Bedfont® as Jason Smith, new managing director, is shaking things up for the 40 year old company.
Bedfont®, established in 1976, has specialised in the design and
manufacture of exhaled breath and gas analysis products since before
Jason was born. However, now he has succeeded his father, Trevor, as
managing director, Jason feels that it’s the ideal time to update the
brand, to reflect recent changes and Bedfont’s future .
The reason for the rebrand is that 2016 was a big year for Bedfont®
which led to a lot of developments within the business and we sold our
NOxBOX range of intensive care units to focus on our core business of
breath analysis as well as celebrating 40 years of business.
Jason comments, “As we focus more on breath
analysis, having sold the intensive care range, we have changed a bubble
from green to purple to represent our NObreath® FeNO monitor which is
helping to improve asthma management. We have also included our
establishment date because even though we want the world to see how new
and innovative our ideas are, we still want them to know that we’ve been
a long-standing established company, since 1976.
More significant than the logo with this rebrand is the new slogan, “Our family, innovating health, for yours.”
Again, we feel that it is crucial that the rebrand reflects our core
values and purpose as a company and we feel this slogan does exactly
that. What is important about this new slogan is that we are still
innovating health, that is not changing, but we are expanding. The
Bedfont® family is not just the Smith family, but all of our dedicated
employees and distributors and we all share the same goal of providing
the best service and products to improve healthcare worldwide.”
The piCObaby™ Smokerlyzer® from Bedfont® Scientific Ltd. offers a quick and non-invasive method of measuring the CO levels of both the mums-to-be and their babies to help them quit smoking.
Figures released from the Women’s Smoking Status at Time of Delivery:
England, published by the Health & Social Care Information Centre
(HSCIC), showed that although the number of women smoking whilst
pregnant fell between 2014/15 and 2015/16, the 2015/16 figures still
show that 10.6% of mothers were recorded as still smoking at the time of
delivery. Bedfont®, who manufacture the renowned Smokerlyzer® used for
smoking cessation, manufacture a version called the piCObaby™
Smokerlyzer® which is specifically designed to help pregnant smokers
quit, and also shows the foetal CO calculation.
With the new year being the perfect time to quit smoking, concerns
about smoking whilst pregnant have been highlighted significantly. Even
Chief Executive of Public Health England, Duncan Selbie, recently
recommended that all pregnant mums be CO screened when they book a
hospital appointment and amidst fears that mothers don’t truly recognise
the harm smoking whilst pregnant has to their unborn child 1.
Carbon monoxide (CO) is inhaled from smoking and replaces the
oxygen in your blood, effectively starving your organs of oxygen which
can lead to several health complications 2. Smoking whilst pregnant can
pass on these detrimental effects to your unborn child and cause serious
pregnancy-related health problems, such as complications during labour,
an increased risk of miscarriage, premature birth, still birth, low
birth-weight and sudden unexpected death in infancy 3.
Jason Smith, managing director at Bedfont®, explains, “The
Smokerlyzer® is effective because when people blow into the monitor,
the traffic light system provides a visual motivational aid as to the
amount of CO in a smoker’s body and therefore provides a warning about
the harm they are doing to themselves by continuing to smoke. The
piCObaby™ not only does this, but also shows the foetal calculation and
therefore the potential harm that a pregnant smoker could be having on
her unborn child too.”
“CO breath testing with the Smokerlyzer® has been used by stop
smoking clinics worldwide for over 30 years now. What makes it so
popular with patients and stop smoking clinics is that it is much
quicker than more conventional methods of CO testing, such as a blood
test, but also it is more patient-friendly because it is completely
non-invasive. We hope that if more mums-to-be know about this easier way
of CO screening or if they need a little extra help to quit smoking
whilst pregnant, they will opt to have a CO breath test with the
piCObaby™ to help them quit, for their health and their unborn baby’s.”
Local exporter, Bedfont® Scientific, donates £500 to BBC Children in Need to support disadvantaged children throughout the UK
Bedfont® Scientific is proud to announce that it is donating £500 to
BBC Children in Need after filming its very own #MannequinChallenge to
support the appeal. The money raised will go on to help transform the
lives of disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.
The #MannequinChallenge is a concept which has gone viral on social
media. The idea is that people are filmed while they hold a pose, like
mannequins. Bedfont’s version saw all of its employees frozen in place
as the camera pans around its 2 offices. Bedfont’s aim was to have the
video of their #MannequinChallenge liked and shared on social media in
order to raise the money to be donated.
Bedfont® Scientific, based in Harrietsham, Kent, specialises in the
manufacture of breath analysis devices for medical application. Their
most famous product is the Smokerlyzer® which can be found in stop
smoking clinics across the UK, helping people quit smoking. As a
company, they partake in several fundraising events throughout the year,
but it is their first time fundraising for BBC Children in Need.
Natasha Smith, marketing manager, comments,
“It was a very successful video and we
had a lot of fun making it. By midnight, just fewer than 300 people
reacted and we had over 11,000 people viewing the video, which keeps
increasing. We are so thankful to everyone who took part and it is a
great feeling to be able to donate £500 to help the disadvantaged
children and young people across the UK.”
Local medical device manufacturer, Bedfont® Scientific, accepts the Mannequin Challenge to help raise money for Children in Need.
The
Mannequin Challenge is a concept which has gone viral on social media.
The idea is that people are filmed while they hold a pose, like
mannequins. Local medical device manufacturer, Bedfont® Scientific, have
decided to join the hype but with one twist; if their video gets 10,000
shares on Facebook, they will donate £1,000 to Children in Need which
is taking place tonight.
Children in Need, established in 1980, is the BBC’s UK charity
which has raised over £600 million for disabled children and young
people in the UK.
Jason Smith, Managing Director, says,
“Whilst all good fun to plan and film the mannequin challenge, we do
hope that by making this video we can help spread the word about the
BBC’s good work through the Children in Need charity. Sometimes it’s
good to pause and take stock of how lucky we are and that there are
children out there who need our help; with social media playing such a
huge part in life these days, we hope that our video will help people
realise this. Please do like and share our video which can be found on
our Facebook page, @Bedfontltd. We have pledged to give £1,000 to
Children in Need if we can reach over 10,000 likes before midnight!”
Bedfont® Scientific is proud to have passed its first unannounced BSI audit.
Bedfont®
Scientific, based in Harrietsham, Kent, is a medical device
manufacturer that specialises in breath analysis devices which are used
to help detect certain health conditions. As a medical company, there
are many compliances to adhere to, but they are pleased to announce they
have passed their very first unexpected audit.
The BSI, otherwise known as the British Standards Institution, is
the national standards body for the UK and implements technical
standards on a wide range of products and services. The BSI introduced
unannounced audits in April 2014, aiming to assure day-to-day compliance
of the manufacturer’s product and quality management systems.
Louise Bateman, QA & RA Manager, stated, “It
was a surprise but not something that worried us. Overall I’m very happy
with how the audit went and you can see at times like this how the
company is developing in all aspects and how hard the teams work to
enable us to sell medical products into the market”.
Trevor Smith, Chairman, adds, “This is truly good
news as we can use it as one of the barometers as to the “health” of the
Company. When the auditors turned up unexpected yesterday I happened to
be in reception. In the past an event like this would fill me with
nerves; however, I immediately felt at ease considering all the hard
work that has gone into our QA. This is nothing short of excellent! Hard
work and doing your very best always pays off eventually.”
Local company, Bedfont® Scientific, urges people to quit smoking with the Smokerlyzer® after latest figures from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) find smoking still causes the majority of lung cancer deaths in the UK.
Lung
Cancer Awareness month approaches again in November 2016, in the hope
to make people aware of the facts and figures that can save people’s
lives. Bedfont® Scientific, based in Harrietsham, Kent, manufacturer of
the Smokerlyzer®, a breath carbon monoxide (CO) monitor used to help
people quit smoking, is encouraging people to quit the habit which
contributes to 86% of lung cancer deaths in men and 72% in women,
according to latest ASH statistics.
A staggering 81% of patients diagnosed with advanced lung cancer
die within a year and smoking is the single biggest preventable risk
factor of lung cancer.
A leading manufacturer of exhaled breath and gas monitoring
instruments, who in 2016 are celebrating two important anniversaries –
40 years in business and 30 years of one of their most successful
exports – the Smokerlyzer®, Bedfont® Scientific are revered as pioneers
in the medical gas analysis market.
Jason Smith, Managing Director at Bedfont® Scientific, comments,
“The Smokerlyzer® uses breath analysis to detect the harmful amount
of carbon monoxide (CO) in your lungs, and therefore your blood, that is
inhaled from smoking. Smoking builds high levels of CO in the blood,
which can lead to heart disease, circulation problems and high blood
pressure. For smoking cessation clinics, it is a way to establish a
smoker’s status whilst acting as a motivational visual aid to encourage
them to quit and to measure their progress whilst doing so, helping to
prevent cancer and other smoking related diseases.”
At Bedfont’s 40th year in business celebrations, Jason Smith was announced as Managing Director, succeeding his father, Trevor, who becomes Chairman.
Bedfont
Scientific Ltd, based in Harrietsham, gathered together its customers,
distributors and partners in celebration of 40 years trading, where
Trevor Smith announced that Bedfont was becoming a 2nd generation family
company by appointing his son, Jason Smith, as the new Managing
Director, with Trevor moving on to the position of Chairman.
Trevor Smith joined Bedfont as the Marketing Director in 1985. It
is from there that Trevor grew and became managing director of Bedfont
Scientific, shaping it to be the pioneer in medical breath analysis that
it is today.
Trevor Smith, Chairman of Bedfont, says, “It is
with great pride and pleasure that I hand the reins over to my son
Jason. I couldn’t be more proud of the man that Jason has become and I
have absolutely no doubt that he has the brightest future for Bedfont at
the heart of his strategies.”
Jason Smith, new Managing Director of Bedfont, adds,
“I’d like to thank Trevor for trusting me with the company he built,
he’s been the best business mentor and friend I could have hoped for. My
aim for Bedfont is that our family values are shown through our
dedication to our customers and our core business of breath analysis; we
all share the same goal of providing the best service and products to
improve healthcare. This goes not only for our employees, but also our
distributors and suppliers; it’s about the Bedfont family, not just the
Smith family, and I’m proud to work with them all.”
Bedfont® Scientific, based in Maidstone, Kent, encourages people to quit smoking this Stoptober for the chance to win £100 worth of amazon vouchers.
October has become the ideal time for people to quit since Public
Health England introduced the 28-day stop smoking challenge known as
Stoptober. Last year a record 215,000 people signed up to Stoptober,
however, despite the huge interest, recent statistics from ASH show that
there are still around 9.6 million adult smokers in Great Britain
alone. Bedfont Scientific, manufacturer of the Smokerlyzer® which is
used to help people quit smoking, is encouraging people to quit this
Stoptober and have their photo taken with the Smokerlyzer®, showing
their “green light” photo and use the hashtag #Stoptober for a chance to
win £100 in amazon vouchers.
The Smokerlyzer® range is a series of breath carbon monoxide (CO)
monitors that measure the harmful amount of CO that is inhaled from
smoking, which can show how much a patient has been smoking, giving
smoking cessation advisors an idea on the level of dependency that the
smoker has. The Smokerlyzer® is quick, non-invasive and also acts as a
motivational visual aid with its traffic light system, to encourage the
user to quit smoking and to measure their progress whilst doing so.
Bedfont Scientific are celebrating 40 years in business this year
and are revered as pioneers in the breath analysis market. Founder,
Trevor Smith, created the Smokerlyzer® in 1985, which is also
celebrating its 30th birthday in 2016. With over 520,000 units sold
since existence, the Smokerlyzer® is one of Bedfont’s most successful
exports and can now be found in over 70 countries across the world.
Jason Smith, General Manager at Bedfont Scientific, says, “Every
year, around 96,000 people in the UK die from diseases caused by
smoking, but the Smokerlyzer® can help people quit and save their lives.
Last Stoptober we were amazed at the number of people who quit smoking
and proud that our Smokerlyzer® was used to help them. We want to hear
the stories of how the Smokerlyzer® is changing people’s lives and
encourage more people to quit smoking this year, and so we are holding a
competition. For those who wish to quit smoking and enter the
competition, simply visit your local stop smoking service for help and
send us your “green-light” photos; we will be putting them into a prize
draw to win £100 in amazon vouchers.”
For more information on Bedfont’s #Stoptober competition, please visit www.bedfont.com/30yearsofsmokerlyzer.
Bedfont® Scientific, Kent, launches their new GastroCH4ECK™ Gastrolyzer® at the United European Gastroenterology Week 2016
Bedfont® Scientific has specialised in the design and manufacture of
exhaled breath and gas monitoring instruments since 1976. With an
unprecedented network of distributors, Bedfont’s products can be found
in over 70 countries worldwide.
At the United European Gastroenterology Week (UEGW) 2016, Bedfont
can be found at booth X1/5, introducing the new and improved
GastroCH4ECK™ Gastrolyzer®, a breath hydrogen and methane analyser used
to help detect gastrointestinal disorders.
The GastroCH4ECK™ Gastrolyzer® helps to detect gastrointestinal
disorders such as IBS, SIBO and sugar intolerances such as lactose
intolerance. This is done by measuring the amount of hydrogen and
methane in a patient’s breath, which is produced by the breakdown of
food in the gut.
Dr Anthony Hobson, the Clinical Director of the Functional Gut Clinic, explains,
“As an existing customer of the Gastrolyzer® range, I am delighted
to have had the chance to test the unit before anyone else, and can
truly say that the new sensor technology and friendly user interface
make this the best hydrogen and methane breath test available, thanks to
improved accuracy and ease of use. The GastroCH4ECK™ is the only
hydrogen and methane breath testing monitor that offers direct breath
samples meaning I can see my patients quicker and more efficiently,
allowing me to provide a Gold Standard breath testing service.”
Jason Smith, General Manager at Bedfont Scientific, comments,
“The GastroCH4ECK™ Gastrolyzer® is simple to use for both patient
and Doctor. It is completely non-invasive, making it the preferred
method for patients who do not wish to provide a blood sample but also
gives an instant reading, compared to having to wait up to two weeks for
the blood sample to be tested, meaning the patient suffers less. We are
proud to be unveiling our new GastroCH4ECK™ Gastrolyzer® at UEGW 2016
and hope that all who specialise in gastroenterology will come and see
our new and improved monitor.”
