Business or Technical Innovation of the Year

A small company of just four employees, it provides “intelligent security surveillance solutions” and is entered in the Business or Technical Innovation of the Year category.

Stones Enterprises Ltd (Stones) was incorporated in 2006 as a safety and security consultancy. From mid-2007 to the end of 2008, the company embarked on a research and development project to explore possibilities of providing enhanced security solutions by way of combining the technologies available and unique range of support services to give potential customers a new CCTV experience, targeted towards the construction sector.

Managing director Sani Ismail said: “We found that the construction sector is a big user of out-of-hours security services. However, due to cost/financial restraints they under-procure security services, for example, employing one security guard to protect a big site.

“While CCTV security for construction sites existed, we found that the service providers lacked (a) the understanding of the construction sector and how it works, and (b) the flexibility that construction sites need as the site is ever-changing. We also found that the way the CCTV cameras are being monitored (ie blank screen monitoring) is less-than-satisfactory from the security point of view.”

Stones came up with a package of solutions including the use of infra-red technology teamed up with video surveillance equipment to create a virtual “ring of steel”, enhanced monitoring stations, manual site patrols, and employing 3G technology for transmission of images.

Mr Ismail added: “Our solutions were launched in 2009, primarily for the civil engineering companies operating on water treatment works. By the first quarter of 2009, our solutions were deployed at various water treatment works in the Thames Water and Severn Trent Water regions.

“The success was then expanded to include other areas.”