http://www.sprocketdc.co.ukRSS Feed of the latest news for Sprocket DCMon, 26 Mar 2012 09:16:50 +0100Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=38Sprocket DC is celebrating 3 years in business!Today marks the 3rd Birthday of Sprocket DC and gives us a chance to reflect on how the business has grown from day 1. Like many small businesses, year 1 was all about establishing credibility, building our customer base and getting a few projects under our belt. Year 2 saw a huge increase in turnover, key investments and establishing the business as a well respected and competitive design consultancy. Year 3 has been focused on pushing the business in the right direction, moving away from sub-contracting work and towards 100% in house projects, whilst again achieving our highest turnover to date.The last year has been very enjoyable and has seen us working on some very exciting projects, which we hope to have showcased in our portfolio very soon. For this we must again say thank you to our loyal customers. Here's to  a successful 2012/2013 and 4th year in business! http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=38Fri, 16 Mar 2012 10:43:59 +0000Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=37Thursday evening saw the 2nd annual Lancashire Business View Red Rose Awards held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.Immediately on entering the venue you could feel the excitement building for the evening ahead. Whilst sipping on the welcome drinks we were treated to a 'dance by' from Blowjangles, the amazing street band from Blackburn, who then led all the guests into the Empress Ballroom for the main event.Following a delicious 3 course meal, the awards ceremony began with Creative Business of the Year. In an extremely competitive category spanning media, marketing, branding and design, it was going to be a tough one to win. Unfortunately this year we didn't claim the trophy, but we were over the moon to get shortlisted along side so many amazing businesses.Lancashire certainly has a lot to be proud of and it was a lovely way to celebrate all the successes that Lancashire businesses had in 2011.Congratulations to all the winners and those shortlisted for the Red Rose Awards 2012. http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=37Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:02:31 +0000Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=36Sprocket DC is one of eight companies to be shortlisted for the 2012 Red Rose Awards Creative Business of the Year!We're extremely pleased to announce that we have been shortlisted for the second year in a row for Creative Business of the Year in the 2012 Lancashire Business View Red Rose Awards, following a successful application form and interview.2011 was an extremely successful year for us thanks to the wide variety of projects undertaken and a focus on developing the business in the desired direction. Therefore a huge thank you goes to all of our loyal customers whose continuing support is very much appreciated.The winner of the award will be announced on 15th March at the awards dinner which will be held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.Fingers crossed...http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=36Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:42:27 +0000Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=33Working with local company Water Sculptures, Sprocket DC has helped to make a spectacular water feature in Durham.This weekend Durham hosted the Lumiere Festival 2011 which saw the city being lit up with wonderful creations from a giant snow dome over a city centre monument to interactive curiosities. The star of the show (from our slightly biased perspective) however, was 'Splash' - a misty waterfall off one of the Durham's bridges.Sprocket DC has been involved with designing the brackets that hold this creation together, securely in place and without damaging the historical bridge on which it was placed.The effect created was truly spectacular and was certainly a favourite amongst many of the visitors to the festival:  BBC news reported on the success of the event and featured and interview with the artist behind 'Splash': http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15809862We'll be updating our portfolio with a case study and more photos soon...For more information on Water Sculptures, please visit their website: http://www.watersculptures.co.uk/index.html http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=33Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:30:09 +0100Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=32On Saturday 13th August, Jenny Roberts and 3 team mates completed their Lands End to John O'Groats cycle trip. Raising over £1400 for Cystic Fibrosis along the way and testing out SmartLife Smart Garments, the trip was not only extremely enjoyable but hugely successful.From the photos you'll see that we were extremely lucky with the weather - only one day of really heavy rain and even that just made the surroundings of Glen Coe even more spectacular (i.e. lots of waterfalls).Thanks for all the support and if you'd still like to donate please do so here: http://www.justgiving.com/SmartLife-LEJOG     http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=32Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:07:39 +0100Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=31 Sprocket DC teams up with SmartLifeInc to cycle Lands End to John O'Groats wearing SmartVest™ technology The first two weeks of August will see MD Jenny Roberts and three others cycle from Lands End to John O'Groats wearing SmartLifeInc smart garments. These garments will monitor heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, body position (accelerometer) and GPS location. In the first event of its kind, each participant will test out various garments and their recorded data will then be shared on a specifically constructed website (watch this space for the URL!). Updates to the website each day will allow followers to watch the team's progress and compare physical data (HR, respiration etc.) with route data (route and elevation).   It is hoped that the collected data from this challenge will help us better understand the monitoring of vital health signs and progress the development of the technology for use in diagnosing and monitoring conditions such as Cystic Fibrosis.   For more information on this please follow @SmartLifeLEJOG on Twitter and on the challenge website which will follow soon.   Links: www.smartlifetech.comhttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=31Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:50:20 +0100Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=28 Red Rose Awards 2011 Managing Director, Jenny Roberts, attended the Lancashire Business View Red Rose Awards 2011 in which Sprocket DC was shortlisted for Creative Business of the Year. The evening started with a drinks reception in the Arena followed by a sit down meal and awards presentation in the spectacular Empress Ballroom. The category of Creative Business of the Year was extremely well represented with prestigious companies and we were honoured to be classed in the same league as them. On the night the award went to a fellow Lancaster based company, and well deserved recipient, Fat Media. Congratulations to all those shortlisted and in particular the winners from each category - Lancashire really does have a wealth of impressive businesses!    http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=28Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:00:10 +0100Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=27 Take that recession! On Saturday 26th March, Sprocket DC celebrated its 2nd Birthday. The last two years has seen the company grow and go from strength to strength, culminating in an extremely busy work schedule over the past few months and being shortlisted for our first award (Creative Business of the Year - Lancashire Business View Red Rose Awards). Thank you so much to all those who have supported us and believed in us over the last few years (you know who you are), it's meant an awful lot and we're so proud to be able to say we're doing well. Here's to the continuing success of Sprocket DC - cheers!http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=27Thu, 10 Feb 2011 11:15:23 +0000Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=26 We're extremely pleased to announce that Sprocket DC has been shortlisted for the Creative Business of the Year in the Lancashire Business View Red Rose Awards 2011. According to the organisers of the awards the standard of entries this year has been extremely high, so we're over the moon to have made the shortlist. To see the full shortlist go to: http://www.redroseawards.co.uk/shortlist.htm The awards ceremony is on 31st March in Blackpool - good luck to all those who have been shortlisted! http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=26Tue, 08 Feb 2011 11:08:08 +0000Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=25 We are pleased to announce the launch of our mobile phone friendly site! Many thanks to Hidden Colour Ltd for doing such a grand job. Visit www.sprocketdc.co.uk using your mobile phone.http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=25Fri, 03 Dec 2010 13:32:27 +0000Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=2 Our latest project has been a huge success and has received great feedback from our client Trio Motion Technology. A 5 week turnaround project is tight at the best of times, but when it's a concept through to manufacture, assembly and delivery within 5 weeks project, it becomes quite a challenge - but one we were determined to conquer nevertheless! Based on a school fair game where you follow a bendy wire with a wand and it buzzes if you make contact with it, the exhibition unit was designed to show case Trio's motion control technology. A 3-axis joystick allowed delegates at the exhibition to try their hand at being the fastest person to complete the game, whilst the motion control technology was also programmed to demonstrate how quickly and accurately it could perform the same task in comparison. Using an aluminium fabrication for the base of the unit to match the existing display stands in the exhibition area, gave the unit a sturdy and adjustable platform on which to stand the main display unit. A frosted clear acrylic tablet box housed the 'brains' of the set up along with flexible LED lighting to attract delegates and make it eye catching and intriguing....http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=2Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:18:23 +0000Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=5 On 21st March 2010 Sprocket MD Jenny Roberts competed in the Helly Hansen trail race, Cumbrian Commotion, which was held in the beautiful setting of Grizedale Forest. This gruelling race consisted of a 12km run, 20km cycle, 1.5km canoe plus three agility challenges just before the finish line. Over tough terrain that included parts of the North Face trail (an extremely technical single width bike track including boardwalks), 300m ascents both on bike and foot and an open water canoe on Coniston Water, this challenge was not for the faint hearted! The rules of the challenge stipulated that only teams of 3 were allowed and that each team had to stick together over the whole course. For a bit of added fun, Jenny’s all girl team (2 Roses and a Leprechaun) were in direct competition with an all boys team (Sad Ken) that consisted of 2 Lancaster friends and Jenny’s husband! Both teams started together and the boys led by about 50 meters consistently until half way through the cycling at which point the girls took a marginal lead. However the boys caught up at the transition area and took the lead again right the way through the run to Coniston, the...http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=5Fri, 14 Jan 2011 10:54:46 +0000Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=23 As a result of our very successful year in 2010, we've added a portfolio page to our website to show case some of our projects. Featured projects so far include our 'bendy wire' exhibition stand for Trio Motion Technology and CAD work on Grand Marnier concepts for Mellor & Scott. We will be continuing to update this portfolio throughout 2011, so watch this space for more of our work.http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=23Sat, 06 Nov 2010 10:51:32 +0000Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=4 The last 6 months has been a busy time for Sprocket DC. We've had a number of exciting contracts including: - Work on the design of Lead lined rooms for scynchrotrons - Work on the design of sub sea lifting devices - CAD design work on a replica car engine for a piece of art work - Engineering drawings for farm machinery - Design of an assembly rig for a car assembly plant - Design, manufacture and assembly of an exhibition unit We're hoping to update the website very soon to show case some of these projects, so watch this space!http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=4Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:33:57 +0000Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=6 Sprocket DC has recently been involved with a number of events designed to promote engineering to the next generation. Jenny Roberts, Managing Director at Sprocket DC, has been attending school events to encourage students to consider engineering as a career and to broaden their minds to the opportunities engineering holds. For many years now engineering has been thought of as a dirty and often labour intensive profession that is largely male dominated. Although the latter may be correct at present, there is much more to engineering than fixing heavy machinery. Working as a STEM Ambassador Jenny recently commented, 'One of my favourite things is to watch the reactions of the students when I tell them that I have designed playground equipment as a mechanical engineer. This is something that they have never previously thought about having been designed, so when I explain about the strict standards that have to be followed, whilst making the equipment fun to use and considering the loading that the equipment may be subject to, they begin to realise that there is much more to it than meets the eye. Broadening their perception of engineering is a small step in the right direction to changing the attitude to engineering...http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=6Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:09:48 +0000Newshttp://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=7 Sprocket DC is pleased to announce their newest customer is BAE Systems. Last week saw the first project get to a flying start, with a fast turnaround required to ensure their product was delivered on time. Pete Tumelty, Business Development Manager, commented: 'The quality of the service and product produced by Sprocket DC was not only of an excellent standard but was delivered ahead of schedule. A pleasure to do business with and we would certainly be looking to work with Sprocket DC again in the future.' If you have a project that needs to be completed in a hurry, then please get in touch with us via the contacts page and we'll be happy to help!http://www.sprocketdc.co.uk/feed/read.php?itemid=7