Shoe power firm wins new funding

The grants have been awarded by the DTI

A firm hoping to generate electricity from burning leather shoes is among a clutch of companies in the region to benefit from £3m worth of grants.

BLC Leather Technology, of Northampton, has won a grant of up to £600,000 from the Department of Trade and Industry .

The company was among 12 in the eastern region to benefit from the grants which aim to boost new technologies.

Other big winners include Ford Motor Company in Basildon and Peter Brotherhood Ltd in Peterborough.

The Ford Motor Company will receive grants towards a £2.69m project to development more environmentally friendly vehicles.

While energy company Peter Brotherhood will receive grants towards its £1.65m project to develop air turbines to improve the production of renewable energy.

Winner of the latest DTI technology grants Pelkion (electronics), Cambridge Ford Motor Company (cars), Basildon Accelrys (computing), Cambridge MERL (engineering), Hertford FIRA (engineering), Stevenage IMT (engineering), Bury St Edmunds Peter Brotherhood Ltd (energy), Peterborough Micro Circuit (engineering), Newmarket TeraView (electronics), Cambridge BLC Leather Technology (research), Northampton Systems Advanced Technology (engineering), Towcester

BLC Leather Technology, which is based at Moulton Park, is developing a way to burn waste leather shoe uppers to supply heat and power.

The total cost of the project is £840,000.

David Marlow, chief executive of the East of England Development Agency (EEDA), said: "I am delighted that businesses in this region have been chosen to receive funding from the DTI Technology Strategy.

"The funding will help sustain the growth each company has experienced and will allow the East of England to drive forward emerging technologies that will make a real difference to the UK's competitiveness."

Government investment will provide grants between 25% and 75% for collaborative projects.