2022 has been our busiest year to date here at Aspira. So much has happened and we are so grateful for all the support we have received. We thought now would be the perfect time to reflect back over what has been an incredibly busy year for Aspira.
Right back at the start of year, in January, Aspira rebranded as ‘Drones and Coatings for Good’, this rebrand came with a whole new website. This had been a long time coming and there was no better time to launch. Moving into 2022 we had just received confirmation that we had won our latest grant with Innovate UK to adapt our technology to improve the efficacy of wind turbine blades, we had just doubled the size of our team and moved into a new office. Reflecting on all these changes and the direction of the company we felt it was only right that our missions and website mirrored this. Even from the very start of 2022 we knew it was going to be a massive year for Aspira.
February was when we officially launched the start of our latest project for Innovate UK. We received a rather sizeable grant to aid us in developing our drone technology to support the wind turbine sector, this is for an 18-month project where we utilise our bespoke drone technology and coating expertise to clean existing turbines to reduce drag and increase efficiency. 11 months down the line and the team are now well underway with the adaptation of the technology and have even conducted their first flight round a turbine test tower thanks to ORE Catapult.
It has been an extraordinary year for the growth of the company and our community as well. Our social media following has grown by 300% which is just fantastic. Back in May we exhibited at our first facilities show in London. Considering it was our first show we were very apprehensive however it was an absolute hit! We received loads of interest, met some amazing people, heard some fantastic ideas for us to work on and we are still closing on some exciting projects for the new year.
Due to our growing community and developments in our Innovate UK project we have also added 2 new drones to our fleet: the AC4 and the Development Drone. The whole concept of the Development Drone is so that during the development of the project the engineers can easily swap different bits of hardware out and try new technology without causing any damage. Its smaller size and lighter weight also make it much easier for them to take it out and test fly it regularly helping them squash any problems much earlier. Whereas the AC4 is the latest iteration of our drone that can fly round and spray buildings in urban environments.
In the summer our chairman Stephan Falder took retirement, and we welcomed our new chair of the board Frank Hayden. Since joining the team Frank has made a huge impact on the company and we look forward to seeing where he leads Aspira in 2023.
Finally, we had the absolute pleasure of being awarded our first award. Aspira are the winners of the ‘Most Innovative Building Maintenance Company – Northern England’ at the Build Facilities Management Awards 2022. Frank Hayden, our Chair of the Board says “the Aspira team are delighted to be recognised by the building management industry, for our innovative maintenance services. We are proud of our current impact, and we are excited to be working on a range of building heat loss reduction and climate improvement services. These new services will help our customers to accelerate towards their carbon net zero targets.”
We would just like to take this opportunity to thank the team for their continued hard work and dedication to the project, it is fantastic to see everything starting to come together. We would also like to thank everyone for their continued support throughout the year and we cannot wait to see what 2023 brings!