Founded in 2009 by University of Bath graduates David Kelly and Adam Pope, Storm Consultancy is a leading South West digital technology agency that works with startups, scale ups and innovative corporations to design, develop and bring their ideas to life on the web.
One such success story in which the founding pair have invested is the internationally acclaimed CiteAb - a joint venture between Storm, the University of Bath and Dr Andrew Chalmers, now a visiting Senior Lecturer. Launched in 2014, CiteAb is a world-leading market data provider for life science suppliers and tool for researchers to find products that work for their experiments.
As well as being highly successful in its own right, CiteAb is estimated to save the Life Science industry well over $1bn a year.
“To be recognised as one of the most innovative companies in the UK through the Queen’s Award programme is fantastic," said David Kelly, Storm CEO. "It is testimony to the incredible hard work and dedication that our team has put in over the years. We are also indebted to the multitude of entrepreneurial individuals and organisations who have entrusted us to bring their ideas to market and then innovate alongside them as they grow.”
The winning pair are great examples of the kinds of businesses that are produced in a city that for its size, consistently punches above its weight. The technology sector within the city is booming, and like many other Bath success stories, both CiteAb and Storm are currently growing their teams and are encouraging graduates not to overlook the Queen’s seal of approval if they are seeking exciting companies to work for and want to stay in the city.
After learning about this recognition, CiteAb’s CEO, Dr Andrew Chalmers, said: “The team at CiteAb is absolutely thrilled to receive this award, especially during the Queen’s Jubilee year. This award validates our innovative technology to be industry leading and our products high quality. It shows us that we have the tools to continue making a positive impact in the life science industry, so thank you to the entire team at CiteAb”.
Established in 1965, the Queen's Award is the most prestigious business award in the UK, with only around 7,000 winners since its inception.
Professor Jonathan Knight, Vice-President (Enterprise) at the University, said: "We are tremendously proud that these Queen's Award winners can trace their beginnings back to the University. The CiteAb story began with a University research project, led by Dr Andrew Chalmers in partnership with Storm Consultancy, a highly successful digital technology agency founded by two Bath graduates.
"University commercialisation expertise helped to set CiteAb on route to becoming a fully fledged enterprise, and now the world's largest Antibody Search Engine, serving tens of thousands of researchers each month. Both companies are leaders in their field, contributing so much to our City, region and to the wider world, and we send them all our warmest congratulations on their Queen's Awards for Enterprise."