Prime Minister Tony Blair today hailed the full and final list of all 1,012 Millennium Products companies as ‘the very best of British innovation, creativity and design.’
Unveiling a further 235 Millennium Products at the fifth and final announcement of the Design Council’s initiative at Skyscape, at the Millennium Dome, Mr Blair was joined by hundreds of Millennium Products businessmen and women.
The Prime Minister told them: ‘Congratulations to all of you on your imagination, your ingenuity and inspiration. Our future success depends on the qualities you, your product and your company embody.
‘I am absolutely delighted to be with all of you who have achieved that status and can justifiably claim, as Millennium Product companies, to represent the very best of British innovation, creativity and design.
‘Each one of you knows that creativity and innovation are at the heart of a successful business. They are also the foundations upon which our future economic success depends.’
Mr Blair also announced that the stories behind Millennium Products are to become a key part of the Design Council’s new Sharing Innovation programme of initiatives and events next year. Millennium Products are already represented on the Design Council’s Spiral of Innovation which sits next to the Millennium Dome on the Greenwich peninsula.
Chairman of the Design Council John Sorrell said: ‘These more than 1,000 products and services represent the final, conclusive proof of what we have been claiming these last two years: that Britain really is one of the most creative, innovative nations in the world. Sharing Innovation will ensure that we continue to learn from the stories behind them.’
Design Council Chief Executive Andrew Summers said: ‘The breadth and diversity of Millennium Products has been truly inspiring and, with the Sharing Innovation programme, we hope they will encourage future generations of innovators to continue Britain’s creative revolution.’
Among the final round of Millennium Products announced today are the BBC’s spectacular Walking with Dinosaurs series, BAe’s medal-winning Skeleton Bobsled and the Royal Mail’s Millennium Stamps. There is also a supermarket trolley made of recyclable plastic which promises the end of discarded, rusting eyesores, a luminous fishnet which improves catch levels at night and the only remote submarine in the world which can withstand depths of 6kms.
New medical products in this final round include: Adaptive Spectacles designed for the developing world which can be adjusted for different prescriptions without an optician; clothing by Marks & Spencer for children with skin conditions; a special face mask to help premature babies breathe.
New computer and communications Millennium Products include Legion software which predicts crowd movement in public spaces, the Open interactive television system which brings e-mail to your TV, and Plasma 42, a public information system displayed on giant plasma screens.
New architectural Millennium Products include an easily-assembled Emergency Shelter for disaster relief areas, the Hulme Arch Bridge in Manchester, the armadillo-like Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, new Peckham Library in South London and the highly innovative Notley Green Primary School in Essex.
ends
Notes to editors
- Further information about Millennium Products, the Design Council and its forthcoming Sharing Innovation programme is attached.
- High resolution pictures can be downloaded from the Millennium Products website at http://www.millennium-products.org.uk.
- A complete list of all 1,012 Millennium Products is available from the Design Council in hard copy or electronic form. All Millennium Products are also featured at http://www.millennium-products.org.uk.
- For further enquiries about the Design Council, Millennium Products or Sharing Innovation, contact:
- VNR footage in BETA SP format can be obtained from:
Beth Golding World Wide Pictures 020 7434 1121
- For further copies of the Prime Minister’s speech, contact:
Downing St Press Office 020 7930 4433
- For further information about the Millennium Dome, contact:
Gez Sagar NMEC 020 7808 8303
- For further information about Skyscape contact:
Gabrielle Owtram 020 8293 8663
