A Northamptonshire company is calling on local businesses to help them deliver an innovative range of self-heating meals into the UK market.

Mainstay Enterprises Ltd, the sole supplier of HOTBOX Self Heating Meals in the UK, has posted the product to the East Midlands Development Agency’s (emda) new, online innovation Exchange (iExchange) service.

Hosted on the East Midlands Innovation portal www.eminnovation.org.uk/iexchange, the iExchange allows businesses, universities and other organisations to showcase and discuss innovative ideas, ask for help or find funding and support.

The meals, which heat up at the push of a button, are used by campers, hikers and care homes and HOTBOX has a number of European clients including Spar, Carrefour, Shell and the Dutch and Swedish armies.

Kevin Murphy, Managing Director of Mainstay Enterprises Ltd, said: “We are looking for potential partners and investors from the East Midlands to help sell the products into forecourt and emergency services, as well as the retail sector.  We also supply the meals to Local Councils and emergency services including the Police and Fire services and would like to target Relief and Disaster Aid organisations.

A new range of products, including self-heating soups and drinks as well as microwavable meals will also be launched in the UK by November 2010.

“The HOTBOX product is relatively new to the UK market and self-heating is the most exciting area of the rapidly developing ‘meals on the go’ marketplace, so the iExchange is an invaluable resource to help raise its profile and connect us with other organisations looking to form potential partnerships,” continued Kevin.

Martin French, emda’s Head of Innovation, said: “Around 2,000 individuals and organisations from across the East Midlands have registered on eminnovation.org, the innovation portal website, which hosts the iExchange. A number of exciting and potentially lucrative business propositions and ideas have peen posted since the launch of the iExchange at the start of the year, with a number already making good progress in finding partners.”

To find out how the iExchange service can work for you, log onto www.eminnovation.org.uk/iexchange.

To find out more about HOTBOX Self Heating Meals visit www.hotboxfood.co.uk

ENDS

Issued on behalf of the East Midlands Development Agency by Lava. For further information contact Matt at Lava on 01522 842800 / matt@lavapr.co.uk

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Notes to editors:

East Midlands Development Agency
East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England, set up in 1999 to bring a regional focus to economic development.

Ten years on, independent evaluation shows emda has:

• Had a significant impact on the region’s economy
• Generated economic benefits that substantially outweigh its overall costs
• Put back over £9 of economic output (or GVA) into the regional economy for every £1 it spends
• Produced more than £1 billion in economic benefits per year
• A wider impact on people, places and businesses in the East Midlands that cannot be captured by figures alone.

emda is committed to supporting the region through the current downturn and has put in place a range of measures to provide real help during these challenging times.

Over the long term, emda’s aim is to deliver the 2006 Regional Economic Strategy (RES) by working in partnership with public, private and voluntary organisations. The RES highlights the themes of productivity, sustainability and equality and sets out key priorities until 2020 to ensure the vision for ‘a flourishing region’ can be achieved.

For more details visit www.emda.org.uk

East Midlands Innovation
East Midlands Innovation is the region’s innovation council, which was established in 2005 by emda. East Midlands Innovation’s principle responsibility is to guide emda’s investment in innovation support to help achieve the objectives of the RES. Its members are drawn from and represent business, research and the public sector.

For more details visit www.eminnovaton.org.uk