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Aylesbury firm pitches for multi-million pound ‘criminal Sat Nav’ contract
A FIRM pitching for a slice of a multi-million pound government contract has been backed by a Vale MP.
David Lidington, MP for Aylesbury, has lent his support to buddi, the company behind Tracker – a GPS device used to track criminals and repeat offenders.
Following a successful pilot by Hertfordshire Police, Tracker is now being used by 10 police forces across the UK to help track persistent crooks.
Electronic monitoring is a form of surveillance used by criminal justice agencies to track thieves.
It is a method commonly used as an alternative to custody.
Primarily, it is used to help prisoners resettle back into the community.
It works by enabling police to follow offenders’ locations in real time using a map, giving their precise location anywhere in the world to within a few feet.
It is more accurate than the traditional curfew tag, which only works if the offender remains at home, and offers savings of 40 per cent, when compared to the tag.
Mr Lidington, who is also the Minister of State (Europe and NATO), Foreign and Commonwealth Office, visited the Aylesbury-based firm’s Walton Street headquarters on Friday to to find out more about buddi Ltd and the technology used in Tracker, which is worn voluntarily on a lockable ankle strap.
buddi is a GPS personal tracker with 24/7 emergency support, which locates people instantly and accurately online, by phone or by text.
Small, discreet and lightweight, buddi can be worn on a keyring, lanyard, or attached to a belt or handbag.
The Aylesbury MP has been lobbying on behalf of buddi Ltd to ensure the minister for policing and criminal justice, Nick Herbert, considers small businesses such as buddi Ltd for the lucrative government electronic monitoring contract, which is currently up for tender.
buddi Ltd founder, Sara Murray said: “David Lidington has been a great support to us.
“We hope that by championing our cause, more small businesses will be considered for government contracts.
“We have clearly demonstrated the cost savings that Tracker can offer, and this contract could also create further employment opportunities in the Aylesbury area.”
The current eight-year electronic monitoring contracts, which are held by G4S and Serco, were due to end in October 2011, and the Ministry of Justice have opened up the market to allow for greater involvement of small and medium enterprises.
The contracts are collectively thought to be worth more than £1 billion.
Mr Lidington’s visit comes as buddi Ltd also celebrates its first international order for the Tracker, working with the Swedish equivalent of the Youth Justice Board to monitor young offenders.
The GPS technology created by buddi Ltd was originally designed to offer a peace of mind service for vulnerable adults, with the device worn voluntarily by those with dementia or the elderly at risk of falling.
Marketed as ‘buddi’, it is currently used by more than 200 local authorities across the UK.
The matchbox-sized device is currently being offered by Bucks Carers.
This allows their families or carers to look up their location via text, phone or internet or to receive an alert if they fall and cannot get back up onto their feet again.
It is on the back of this that the same tracking technology within buddi has been adapted to create the separate Tracker device for use by the criminal justice system.
Founded by Sara Murray in 2007, buddi Ltd has been based in Aylesbury since 2008, and has expanded the number of employees three-fold over the last three years.
At the design and development base, the company has attracted the best talent from all over the world with more than a dozen employees from Spain, China, Thailand, Portugal, Hungary, India and Belarus.
For more information call buddi on 0800 978 8800. Alternatively, visit www.buddi.co.uk.
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