From Humble Beginnings...
Our early research into air pollution first began in 2002 at the University of Leicester and 14 years later EarthSense began trading. After less than 5 exciting years of business, the hard work we put into becoming a leading provider of innovative air quality services has helped us to achieve rapid organic growth year on year, along with the EarthSense team expanding to become a group of 26 highly talented individuals.
We are also happy to announce that we’re the winners of the Innovation Award from the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2021, have received our ISO9001 and ISO14001 certifications, together with many other industry awards and achievements which we’re extremely proud of! Our success has been made possible because of the team’s continued efforts and passion for delivering consistent innovation and delivering market-leading air quality hardware, software, and data services.
Our Growth During an Unusual Climate
At the beginning of 2020, EarthSense consisted of a small, talented, and hardworking team who, despite global challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic, has continued to innovate and collaborate closely with our customers continuing to create jobs for fresh new talent, increasing our team twofold!
2021 has been no exception, and so far we have welcomed 3 new members of the EarthSense team, including an Air Quality Modeller via Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), Senior Air Quality Modeller and our second Senior Business Development Manager. We’re also still looking for more gifted individuals to join, and welcome applications via our careers page.
ISO Certifications
We’ve recently been awarded our ISO9001 and ISO14001 certifications by UKAS, highlighting our commitment to being a quality provider of air quality services. Our ISO9001 Quality in Customer Service certification shows just how genuinely passionate we are about our customers. It verifies that we have the relevant systems and processes in place so we can effectively work alongside our current and prospective clients to receive feedback and respond by improving our air quality products and services.
The ISO14001 Environmental Management Standard showcases that we’re practising what we preach! As an environmental monitoring solutions business, the ISO14001 certifies that our operations, such as product development, manufacturing, and distribution, are carried out most efficiently and sustainably. We’ve always ensured our processes are carried out in the most environmentally friendly manner, so we wanted to put a stamp on it!
Won Awards
Consistent development and improvements to our products and services have led us to be the winners of some excellent awards.
We’re absolutely over the moon to be winners of the Innovation Award from the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2021. EarthSense has officially been named as an outstanding British brand thanks to our complete air quality monitoring service which includes the Zephyr® air quality monitor, software, data access and ongoing servicing. We’re looking forward to attending the Royal Reception!
In collaboration with Bluefrog Design, we were awarded the Design Team of the Year award by the British Engineering Excellence Awards. Due to the success of the design of the small form Zephyr®, the award put a stamp on our innovative air quality monitor, which we designed as a lightweight tool that can be easily and subtly attached to street furniture or vehicles to measure real-time air pollution levels.
We also received the regional Environmental Award for the regional Federation of Small Businesses Awards for being a green company with an environmental product, MyAir® which helps businesses find ways to be more sustainable. Our achievement in winning the award means we’ve reached the finals which are being held later this year. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a national win later in May!
We were awarded the Silver Award for Sustainable Living/Environmental Preservation/Urban Sustainable Design from the European Product Design Awards in 2019. We’ve also been runners up for a number of other awards, including the Space Innovation Award from the Leicestershire Live Awards for our MappAir® model was recognised for providing an innovative air quality service.
Engaging with our Community in the Media
We regularly engage with our community and share our information with stakeholders through regular features in the media. Throughout the years, we’ve worked alongside the BBC and featured in their TV programme ‘Fighting for Air’, which saw us work with Kings Heath Clean Air Network (CAN) in Birmingham to install Zephyr® monitors. Working with the community action group, we launched a day-long pollution-reducing scheme which saw us implement a car-free zone and hedges along a busy high street and neighbourhood primary school to encourage behavioural change.
We can be heard on the radio such as BBC Radio Wales talking about congestion charges in Cardiff and the quick improvement we saw in air quality levels in China and Venice at the start of the pandemic. We’re also regularly live on local BBC Radio in Leicester discussing how air quality is evolving with the introductions of remote working, and what we can all do to maintain these levels.
Our MappAir® datasets have also been used by the BBC to launch the BBC Postcode Checker, which allows individuals to check nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels across the UK.
Last year saw us feature on ITV Wales This Week, where our Lead Data Scientist, Dr. Jordan White was involved in an investigation into which methods of transport to school resulted in the least amount of exposure to human health. We prepared a handful of Zephyr® sensors for school children and their parents to take along with them on their journey to school from walking, cycling, driving and taking the local bus to identify which method of transport experiences the highest volumes of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) throughout the journey.
We also featured on Channel 4’s Dispatches, ‘Coronavirus: How Britain is Changing’, about how the coronavirus lockdown has had an impact on NO2 around the UK. Using Zephyr® sensors and MappAir®, our Technical Director, Dr. Roland Leigh discussed how the reduction in traffic on the roads due to the lockdown had impacted pollution concentrations and how we can keep the levels safe post-lockdown.
The Future
We have significant expansion plans and want to continue expanding our air quality network, enhancing our global air pollution model, and further raise public awareness of air pollution. In doing this we want everyone globally to have access to information about what they are breathing, what impact it has on them, and how informed decisions around their daily routines can improve their health and well-being.
We will continue our efforts, striving hard, directly engaging with our client base to expedite the availability, acceptance and uptake of air quality information. We are always exploring creative ways to accelerate our expansion plans and integrate air quality information into the services of the future. Our focus is stronger than ever and discussions on how we can collectively improve the air quality globally are always welcome.
Thank You
Without the support and feedback of our entire network, none of EarthSense’s success would have been possible. A huge thank you to everyone who has helped achieve our goals so far!
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