The traffic management technology provider Smart Video and Sensing is celebrating its 20th birthday.
The company, which started in 2002 as Smart CCTV has grown into a supplier of Intelligent Transport System products from around the world.
Owner Peter Eccleson reflects on the two decades of the business saying, “Nick Hewitson started ‘Smart CCTV’ as the business was known back in 2002 and he focussed primarily on the survey market in the road and rail sectors.
“As the business became well established in this sector Nick started to explore early AI opportunities and transformed the business into a system integrator and value-added reseller of imported video-based equipments,” he said.
Unfortunately, Nick Hewitson became terminally ill in 2014 and placed the business on the market for sale as a going concern. That’s when Peter Eccleson purchased the controlling interest in the business. By 2016 he had taken the business out of the survey market and concentrated more on detection technologies. This resulted in a rebranding of the business as ‘Smart Video & Sensing Ltd’, which he said reflected on the new business direction whilst concentrating on the roads market.
“Technology was changing rapidly, he continued. “It is difficult to ignore how modern innovation has changed the highways business in the last 20 years. The advances in roadside technology have been phenomenal. There is a rich data source available to the industry these days which wasn’t there previously.”
Today, Smart Video & Sensing Ltd – better known as SVS – has become a leading supplier of advanced radar technology from smartmicro in Germany to the UK roads industry. “As a company, you must remain flexible and change with the times. One thing we focus on doing at SVS is identifying ways to keep up with or stay ahead of the changes. This means getting creative with collaboration and forging strong industry and channel partnerships — like we’ve done with smartmicro. No one said it was going to be easy!” Mr Eccleson concluded. “I would like to thank all f our clients for helping us on that journey.”
(Picture – Peter Eccleson, right, signing a deal with SRL at last year’s JCT Traffic Signals Symposium, courtesy Highways News)
