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Second generation family business, Bedfont®, shows it has family values at its core with their progressive kids club for employees

Bedfont®, based in Harrietsham, is a small family-run business that specialises in the design and manufacture of breath and gas analysis monitors for medical application. For 3 years now, Bedfont® has provided employees with a ‘kids club’ that has been helping their staff to maintain a healthy work-life balance; a factor which makes the small company of 39 a very progressive and desirable company to work for.

Bedfont’s latest statistics show that 73% of the workforce consists of members aged 35 and under, meaning a high majority of staff are parents with young children.

Jason Smith, managing director, says, “On a few occasions half the business needed time off to look after their children during the holidays, meaning holiday was being used solely to take care of children instead of being used for other leisure. This meant that at times business would be an operational nightmare but so would people’s work life-balance; parents had to alternate weeks off from work and therefore the time allocated for them to spend together as a family is seriously diminished, additionally the added pressure of trying to balance work duties whilst trying to find the time to look after your children during the holidays is something I know all too well as a parent of 2 myself. We decided to allocate an annual budget for the kids club, whereby staff can bring their children to work for one week in each of the school holidays and then Bedfont® funds the requisite number of professional DBS checked nannies required. To start, my own home was used as their operating base but now we have part of the Bedfont® premises converted for these weeks, however they actually spend much of their time in the locality at various low-cost attractions such as Leeds Castle, Kent Life, Adventure Kids, Whitstable and much more.”

Claire Dadswell adds, “All the children are cared for by DBS checked nannies with myself in charge; I am NNEB trained with paediatric first aid and have over 23 years of experience as a nanny. We try and do one trip out alongside lots of arts and crafts which all the children love. The youngest child is 1.5 years old and the eldest is 12, so we find activities that are fun, educative and suit all ages. We also provide all children with healthy snacks and lunches, plus we are lucky enough to have a gymnastics coach on our team who will occasionally teach a session with kids to keep them active.” 

Student study in America verifies the effectiveness of the Smokerlyzer® motivational traffic-light system when encouraging smokers to quit.

Barren County High School seniors Taryn Kerley and Becca Calvert recently conducted a study with a Smokerlyzer® carbon monoxide (CO) monitor and found that smokers are more likely to want to quit after seeing their CO levels.

The study called “Effects of Education and Exhaled Carbon Monoxide Testing on Smoking Cessation in a Rural Kentucky Community” looked at 30 people ranging in age from 16 to 50+ and found “there was a significant difference in the desire to quit smoking from before they saw their (carbon monoxide) level to after they saw their carbon monoxide level” said Calvert.

The Smokerlyzer® measures the harmful amount of CO that is inhaled from smoking, which can show how much a patient has been smoking, giving smoking cessation advisors an idea on the level of dependency that the smoker has. The Smokerlyzer® is quick, non-invasive and the traffic light system also acts as a motivational visual aid to encourage the user to quit smoking and to measure their progress whilst doing so. Red indicates a regular smoker with higher levels of CO in their blood, amber would indicate a light smoker, whilst green is the reading of a non-smoker and the ultimate aim.

The carbon monoxide from smoking damages the lining of your arteries, which can lead to angina, a heart attack, a stroke and Buerger’s disease[1,2]. It is also the biggest contributable factor to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD), thought to be responsible for around 90% of cases[3]. Additionally smoking can cause up to 14 types of cancer[4], most significantly lung cancer, of which deaths are the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, with cigarette smoking accounting for 80% of lung cancer deaths in men and 50% in women[5]. Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from second-hand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day[6].

Jason Smith, managing director at Bedfont®, the UK-based company who manufactures the Smokerlyzer®, comments, “It’s really great to see the Smokerlyzer® getting noticed overseas – 80% of our sales are from exporting and the Smokerlyzer®, which is one of our core breath analysis products, has helped thousands of people quit smoking worldwide for over 30 years now. Hopefully the benefits of the Smokerlyzer® will continue to be recognised so that it can help people quit smoking, one breath at a time.”

Second generation family company, Bedfont®, based in Harrietsham, picks up trophy for Exporter of the year 2017 at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce Awards

On Thursday 30th March 2017, the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce hosted its prestigious awards evening at the Canterbury Cathedral Lodge, where Bedfont®, a small family business of less than 40 people, picked up the sought after Exporter of the year 2017 award.

Established in 1976, Bedfont® is a second generation family company that specialises in the design and manufacture of breath and gas analysis equipment, with its wide range of products now found in over 70 countries worldwide.

Andy Smith, sales manager, explains, “Bedfont® operates through a network of distributors, of which the first ever distributor was appointed in 1988 by our father Trevor Smith. In fact, that relationship continues still today between myself and the distributor’s daughter. It is more than a business arrangement; we see our distributors as an extension of the Bedfont® family and it this great relationship that enables us to continue expanding our reach globally.”

Jason Smith, managing director, adds, “We are very proud and grateful to accept the accolade Exporter of the year 2017 from the KICC. I’d like to dedicate this award to the Bedfont® family, who is not only my biological family, but the hardworking staff at Bedfont® and our distributors, without whom we would not be here today.”

Second generation family company, Bedfont®, based in Harrietsham, picks up trophy for Exporter of the year 2017 at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce Awards

New year, new face and new brand for Bedfont® as Jason Smith, new managing director, is shaking things up for the 40 year old company.

Bedfont®, established in 1976, has specialised in the design and manufacture of exhaled breath and gas analysis products since before Jason was born. However, now he has succeeded his father, Trevor, as managing director, Jason feels that it’s the ideal time to update the brand, to reflect recent changes and Bedfont’s future .

The reason for the rebrand is that 2016 was a big year for Bedfont® which led to a lot of developments within the business and we sold our NOxBOX range of intensive care units to focus on our core business of breath analysis as well as celebrating 40 years of business.

Jason comments, “As we focus more on breath analysis, having sold the intensive care range, we have changed a bubble from green to purple to represent our NObreath® FeNO monitor which is helping to improve asthma management. We have also included our establishment date because even though we want the world to see how new and innovative our ideas are, we still want them to know that we’ve been a long-standing established company, since 1976.

More significant than the logo with this rebrand is the new slogan, “Our family, innovating health, for yours.” Again, we feel that it is crucial that the rebrand reflects our core values and purpose as a company and we feel this slogan does exactly that. What is important about this new slogan is that we are still innovating health, that is not changing, but we are expanding. The Bedfont® family is not just the Smith family, but all of our dedicated employees and distributors and we all share the same goal of providing the best service and products to improve healthcare worldwide.”

Watch the Bedfont® family rebrand here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6hk4T79Ic

The piCObaby™ Smokerlyzer® from Bedfont® Scientific Ltd. offers a quick and non-invasive method of measuring the CO levels of both the mums-to-be and their babies to help them quit smoking.

Figures released from the Women’s Smoking Status at Time of Delivery: England, published by the Health & Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), showed that although the number of women smoking whilst pregnant fell between 2014/15 and 2015/16, the 2015/16 figures still show that 10.6% of mothers were recorded as still smoking at the time of delivery. Bedfont®, who manufacture the renowned Smokerlyzer® used for smoking cessation, manufacture a version called the piCObaby™ Smokerlyzer® which is specifically designed to help pregnant smokers quit, and also shows the foetal CO calculation.

With the new year being the perfect time to quit smoking, concerns about smoking whilst pregnant have been highlighted significantly. Even Chief Executive of Public Health England, Duncan Selbie, recently recommended that all pregnant mums be CO screened when they book a hospital appointment and amidst fears that mothers don’t truly recognise the harm smoking whilst pregnant has to their unborn child 1.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is inhaled from smoking and replaces the oxygen in your blood, effectively starving your organs of oxygen which can lead to several health complications 2. Smoking whilst pregnant can pass on these detrimental effects to your unborn child and cause serious pregnancy-related health problems, such as complications during labour, an increased risk of miscarriage, premature birth, still birth, low birth-weight and sudden unexpected death in infancy 3.

Jason Smith, managing director at Bedfont®, explains, “The Smokerlyzer® is effective because when people blow into the monitor, the traffic light system provides a visual motivational aid as to the amount of CO in a smoker’s body and therefore provides a warning about the harm they are doing to themselves by continuing to smoke. The piCObaby™ not only does this, but also shows the foetal calculation and therefore the potential harm that a pregnant smoker could be having on her unborn child too.”

“CO breath testing with the Smokerlyzer® has been used by stop smoking clinics worldwide for over 30 years now. What makes it so popular with patients and stop smoking clinics is that it is much quicker than more conventional methods of CO testing, such as a blood test, but also it is more patient-friendly because it is completely non-invasive. We hope that if more mums-to-be know about this easier way of CO screening or if they need a little extra help to quit smoking whilst pregnant, they will opt to have a CO breath test with the piCObaby™ to help them quit, for their health and their unborn baby’s.”

REFERENCES

1. Hospitals should ‘test all pregnant women to find out if they smoke’ in a bid to help them quit [Internet]. The Mirror. 2017 [cited 12 January 2017]. Available from: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/hospitals-should-test-pregnant-women-9434210

2. Carbon Monoxide in Cigarettes – Carbon Monoxide Kills [Internet]. Carbon Monoxide Kills. 2017 [cited 12 January 2017]. Available from: http://www.carbonmonoxidekills.com/are-you-at-risk/carbon-monoxide-in-cigarettes/

3. Quitting smoking in pregnancy and following childbirth: Guidance. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. 2010

[cited 12 January 2017]

. Available from: http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph26

Local exporter, Bedfont® Scientific, donates £500 to BBC Children in Need to support disadvantaged children throughout the UK

Bedfont® Scientific is proud to announce that it is donating £500 to BBC Children in Need after filming its very own #MannequinChallenge to support the appeal. The money raised will go on to help transform the lives of disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.

The #MannequinChallenge is a concept which has gone viral on social media. The idea is that people are filmed while they hold a pose, like mannequins. Bedfont’s version saw all of its employees frozen in place as the camera pans around its 2 offices. Bedfont’s aim was to have the video of their #MannequinChallenge liked and shared on social media in order to raise the money to be donated.

Bedfont® Scientific, based in Harrietsham, Kent, specialises in the manufacture of breath analysis devices for medical application. Their most famous product is the Smokerlyzer® which can be found in stop smoking clinics across the UK, helping people quit smoking. As a company, they partake in several fundraising events throughout the year, but it is their first time fundraising for BBC Children in Need.

Natasha Smith, marketing manager, comments,

“It was a very successful video and we had a lot of fun making it. By midnight, just fewer than 300 people reacted and we had over 11,000 people viewing the video, which keeps increasing. We are so thankful to everyone who took part and it is a great feeling to be able to donate £500 to help the disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.”

Local medical device manufacturer, Bedfont® Scientific, accepts the Mannequin Challenge to help raise money for Children in Need.

The Mannequin Challenge is a concept which has gone viral on social media. The idea is that people are filmed while they hold a pose, like mannequins. Local medical device manufacturer, Bedfont® Scientific, have decided to join the hype but with one twist; if their video gets 10,000 shares on Facebook, they will donate £1,000 to Children in Need which is taking place tonight.

Children in Need, established in 1980, is the BBC’s UK charity which has raised over £600 million for disabled children and young people in the UK.

Jason Smith, Managing Director, says,

“Whilst all good fun to plan and film the mannequin challenge, we do hope that by making this video we can help spread the word about the BBC’s good work through the Children in Need charity. Sometimes it’s good to pause and take stock of how lucky we are and that there are children out there who need our help; with social media playing such a huge part in life these days, we hope that our video will help people realise this. Please do like and share our video which can be found on our Facebook page, @Bedfontltd. We have pledged to give £1,000 to Children in Need if we can reach over 10,000 likes before midnight!”

To watch the video, please click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlfwT3Ws06c

Bedfont® Scientific is proud to have passed its first unannounced BSI audit.

Bedfont® Scientific, based in Harrietsham, Kent, is a medical device manufacturer that specialises in breath analysis devices which are used to help detect certain health conditions. As a medical company, there are many compliances to adhere to, but they are pleased to announce they have passed their very first unexpected audit.

The BSI, otherwise known as the British Standards Institution, is the national standards body for the UK and implements technical standards on a wide range of products and services. The BSI introduced unannounced audits in April 2014, aiming to assure day-to-day compliance of the manufacturer’s product and quality management systems.

Louise Bateman, QA & RA Manager, stated, “It was a surprise but not something that worried us. Overall I’m very happy with how the audit went and you can see at times like this how the company is developing in all aspects and how hard the teams work to enable us to sell medical products into the market”.

Trevor Smith, Chairman, adds, “This is truly good news as we can use it as one of the barometers as to the “health” of the Company. When the auditors turned up unexpected yesterday I happened to be in reception. In the past an event like this would fill me with nerves; however, I immediately felt at ease considering all the hard work that has gone into our QA. This is nothing short of excellent! Hard work and doing your very best always pays off eventually.”

Local company, Bedfont® Scientific, urges people to quit smoking with the Smokerlyzer® after latest figures from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) find smoking still causes the majority of lung cancer deaths in the UK.

Lung Cancer Awareness month approaches again in November 2016, in the hope to make people aware of the facts and figures that can save people’s lives. Bedfont® Scientific, based in Harrietsham, Kent, manufacturer of the Smokerlyzer®, a breath carbon monoxide (CO) monitor used to help people quit smoking, is encouraging people to quit the habit which contributes to 86% of lung cancer deaths in men and 72% in women, according to latest ASH statistics.

A staggering 81% of patients diagnosed with advanced lung cancer die within a year and smoking is the single biggest preventable risk factor of lung cancer.

A leading manufacturer of exhaled breath and gas monitoring instruments, who in 2016 are celebrating two important anniversaries – 40 years in business and 30 years of one of their most successful exports – the Smokerlyzer®, Bedfont® Scientific are revered as pioneers in the medical gas analysis market.

Jason Smith, Managing Director at Bedfont® Scientific, comments,

“The Smokerlyzer® uses breath analysis to detect the harmful amount of carbon monoxide (CO) in your lungs, and therefore your blood, that is inhaled from smoking. Smoking builds high levels of CO in the blood, which can lead to heart disease, circulation problems and high blood pressure. For smoking cessation clinics, it is a way to establish a smoker’s status whilst acting as a motivational visual aid to encourage them to quit and to measure their progress whilst doing so, helping to prevent cancer and other smoking related diseases.”

At Bedfont’s 40th year in business celebrations, Jason Smith was announced as Managing Director, succeeding his father, Trevor, who becomes Chairman.

Bedfont Scientific Ltd, based in Harrietsham, gathered together its customers, distributors and partners in celebration of 40 years trading, where Trevor Smith announced that Bedfont was becoming a 2nd generation family company by appointing his son, Jason Smith, as the new Managing Director, with Trevor moving on to the position of Chairman.

Trevor Smith joined Bedfont as the Marketing Director in 1985. It is from there that Trevor grew and became managing director of Bedfont Scientific, shaping it to be the pioneer in medical breath analysis that it is today.

Trevor Smith, Chairman of Bedfont, says, “It is with great pride and pleasure that I hand the reins over to my son Jason. I couldn’t be more proud of the man that Jason has become and I have absolutely no doubt that he has the brightest future for Bedfont at the heart of his strategies.”

Jason Smith, new Managing Director of Bedfont, adds, “I’d like to thank Trevor for trusting me with the company he built, he’s been the best business mentor and friend I could have hoped for. My aim for Bedfont is that our family values are shown through our dedication to our customers and our core business of breath analysis; we all share the same goal of providing the best service and products to improve healthcare. This goes not only for our employees, but also our distributors and suppliers; it’s about the Bedfont family, not just the Smith family, and I’m proud to work with them all.”