Award-winning, market leader creates a bright new future

Award-winning, market leader creates a bright new future for manufacturing and research and development opportunities for the LED lighting industry in Portsmouth.

Gemma Lighting will be creating up to 20 new jobs over the next three years at its Portsmouth-based manufacturing plant, thanks to a £100,000 Green Grant from Future Solent as part of their Green Growth Programme (GGP). This programme is aimed at providing a focussed range of interventions, designed to support targeted SMEs in the low carbon economy. The GGP joins together the expertise of the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce with three universities, along with selected public sector partners with the idea of delivering a range of business services to accelerate SME growth. Services of which type are unlikely to be provided purely by the market.

Initially, there will be five new jobs created in engineering and research and development. These roles will help complete the development of a new, leading edge technology, solar LED light. In addition, the creation of a further 15 jobs in the manufacturing sector is planned over the next three years.

Gemma Lighting are currently the market leaders in solar LED street lighting. They have produced some of the largest LED street light installations in the world and are one of the only companies to provide a UK solar street light solution. MD Craig Manuel says “We are proud to be a British manufacturer and we are glad the team at Future Solent have supported our proposal.” In order to gain the grant, Craig had to submit a detailed business plan and sit through five panel interviews with industry experts from across the Solent area.

In a further boost to local institutions, Gemma Lighting will be working alongside Portsmouth University for this project. The University awarded Gemma the “Innovation of the Year Award” at the Portsmouth Business Awards 2013. Now, they will be supporting Gemma Lighting by providing access to their research and development facilities on campus.