A Cambridge company has been awarded the esteemed Coup de Coeur prize at the Franco British Business Awards.SureFlap Company behind the first multi-format microchip cat flap – was picked by the judges as the entry with the most scientific flair.
The inventive product has attracted a growing list of French customers and the Dry Drayton company is now setting up a French language customer service telephone line to support them.
One of the judges – Barbara Habberjam, director for trade and investment at the British Embassy in Paris – said: “SureFlap is a well-deserved winner of the Coup de Coeur award for its technological flair and modernization, and its targeted and determined approach to the French market. There is valid scope for the product in a nation of pet lovers like France.”
Microchipping is designed to assist reunite lost pets with their owners, but Cottenham physicist Dr Nick Hill saw the potential to use this exclusive identifier within a cat flap so that it only opens for a specified animal.
The device recognizes all the common microchip formats used to spot pets throughout Europe – it has seen strong sales in Germany and the Netherlands, as well as France.
Marketing manager Judith Bank said: “The French market has been particularly receptive to the design features of SureFlap and to be recognised in this way is a valuable endorsement.'
