The Macclesfield-based company won the Advanced Manufacturing/Technology category at the 2015 Insider Made in the North West Awards last Thursday, beating Jaguar Land Rover to the top spot. PCS will now go through to the UK final in Liverpool on 9 July.
The specialist manufacturer scooped the award thanks to its Shield product, which protects cards with contactless payment systems from being hacked, making accidental transactions and card clash.
Shield is both the techonology, which can be put inside a protected contactless card, and a shield card that deactivates the payment card while it is within 4mm proximity. Once the payment card is moved from the location of the shield card it can be used normally.
The judges also looked at how the company operates and other technology in development.
PCS managing director Rob Nicholls, said the award win was “very good promotion” for the company.
“One of the key things for us is we like to put ourselves forward as a key company in the print industry but also to get exposure in other business environments.
“This is a significant innovation from the North West so it’s great to be recognised within the region for the extensive work we’ve done to make it possible.”
Nicholls said PCS, which has 52 staff and a turnover of around £5m was exporting the technology to the US and Australia as well as into Europe. It was launched in June last year.
Contracts include a distribution deal for the Credit Card Shield with UK retailer Go Travel and another with Danish car insurance company GF Forsikring which will incorporate the technology into 200,000 customer membership cards.
Within the past few months the company has brought in around £600,000 in new contracts – signing up with utility companies Npower and Utilita and 'Waitrose of the North' Booths supermarket chain.
Nicholls said innovation and technological development was key to his company as profits from inventions under patent are subject to a lower rate of corporation tax under the government’s The Patent Box rules.
“It’s a very tax-efficient way to run our company,” he said.
