Brainy bobbies scoop £20,000 (From Penarth Times)

Brainy bobbies scoop £20,000

AN INNOVATIVE Penarth business has taken first prize in a national award for fledgling ventures.

Detail Technologies was one of ten finalists that went forward for the £20,000 jackpot in the HSBC Start-Up Starts Award.

Set up by serving South Wales Police officers Ian Johnson and Huw Smart, the company designs software that helps fellow police officers pass their promotion exams.

Huw is an inspector in the training department and Ian was a rookie police constable with a background in computers.

Huw was stationed at Bridgend and Ian was stationed in Barry when they realised they were both working on a project that would assist their colleagues with the stresses and strains of passing the all important exams that take them to the next level of policing.

They combined ideas and came up with formula that not only worked so well that they have a base of 2,300 customers in just 11 months, but it was so fresh it also caught the judges' eyes.

The final was held in London on October 3.

But according to Huw, the money is just the icing on the cake. He said: "We are really pleased that we beat off such stiff competition. The prize money does help, as we invested £20,000 of our own to start the company. But what we're really hoping for is the exposure that will come as a result of this success.

"At the moment, our product is for police officers, but now the idea has not only been accepted but publically acclaimed, we would like to adapt it for other areas. Basically, any area where exams are required, we want to design software that will help."

For further information on Detail Technologies call Penarth 029 2071 0740, 0741 or 0742.