Five minutes with Angela Hobbs from Triteq
February 13, 2020
This is the first of our blogs on the science and tech businesses that work in the Trust’s OCFI building in central Oxford. First up is Triteq – a product design consultancy that moved in to OCFI at the start of 2017. We spoke to new MD Angela Hobbs.
What do Triteq do? In short, they make products happen. You go to Triteq with an idea or concept; they research it, design it; prototype it; and then help get your product to market. The company supports start-ups to develop ideas from concept through to manufacture and every stage in-between and work alongside established companies on adapting and redesigning existing products too. Triteq work to the highest standards – including British Standards Institution ISO13485, 9001 and 14001 – and has helped many of their clients achieve CE Marking for their products.
Angela says “Innovation was definitely in the top ten over-used words in 2016, often without explanation or clarification. We believe that innovation is nothing without the process to support it, Triteq provides that process with knowledge, experience and understanding of what’s involved.”
People say that Triteq is the best kept secret in the Thames Valley. That’s because they can’t talk about a lot of their products as they’re often under wraps until they get to market. But there are some cool things they can boast about. There’s the cervical cancer detection device – ZedScan – that Triteq worked on with Zilico, which is already having a huge impact word-wide. And, the company has developed a system which delivers improvements to the skin without the damage of conventional technologies with Fourth State Medicine.
Triteq participate in European consortiums to solve major medical challenges and in 2016 successfully completed the AP@home project to develop a wearable artificial pancreas that automatically regulates insulin delivery. This year they have joined a new consortium with partners in Germany, Switzerland, Greece and the Netherlands to look at the preservation and storage of blood.
The strength of Triteq is in its people. The company was founded by in 1992 by Steve Lane and Jackie Berry whose commitment and passion is ingrained in the company’s philosophy.The talented team of industrial designers, software developers, electronic engineers, and prototype specialists work closely together on the innovation process that lies beneath every successful product. Angela says “It’s their combination of enthusiasm, knowledge and experience that produces great results for our clients.”
Angela and the team are passionate about helping start-ups and the power of technology to have a social impact. Triteq designed their own event in 2015 called “Scale-up your start-up”. The competition invites start-ups – who are looking to develop new products that help solve major health challenges – to pitch. The winners benefit from a consultancy package that gives them access to highly-qualified experts who can help businesses through some of the major challenges. Scaling up a business is all about momentum. Scale-up too quickly and you risk expanding beyond your company’s capabilities, scale too slowly and you lose out to competitors. The event has been such a success that it is now run every year.
In 2017 is Triteq sponsoring The Oxford Trust’s annual Enterprise Awards that recognises entrepreneurs and innovation businesses right across the region (this year’s awards are on 20th June at the King’s Centre, Oxford). The Triteq award celebrates young founders – under 40 – of science and technology companies who feature in the Venturefest pitching programme.
Triteq has grown organically from its original garage start-up premises to around 50 employees today. The company has just moved to new offices near the train station in the centre of Hungerford as well as relocating to The Pod at OCFI, which enables the team to be close at hand to many of their Oxford-based clients and Oxford University Innovation.
Triteq has done so much in the last 25 years and Angela says her key challenge now is to define the company’s focus and expand abroad. Dubai has been mentioned…. Let’s hope Triteq keep a foothold at OCFI – Angela’s passion for science and tech is infectious.
For more information on Triteq, see here
