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Our Success Story - Winner Of The HSBC Start Up Starts Award

Policemen who came up with an innovative way of helping their colleagues pass professional exams have won the £20,000 cash first prize in the Daily Express-backed HSBC Start-Up Stars competition.

Detail Technologies, picked up the prestigious award as a result of its success in spotting a gap in the market, then creatively developing and marketing a product to fill that gap - in Detail's case an interactive CD-Rom to help police revise for their Sergeants' and Inspectors' exams.

Detail-Technologies co-founder, said:"We are very excited. The great thing is the recognition this win gives our business. We had a strong case but there was tough competition."

Each year about 11,000 police constables and sergeants sit professional exams based on police manuals which are updated annually for changes in the law. The owners, set up their company in February 2000 because they felt existing study aids could be improved.

Previously, students were given multiple-choice practice questions similar to those in the exam."But the questions never changed, If the answer to a particular question was A, it would still be A the next time it came up - all you had to do was remember the letter rather than understand why A was the answer."

The policemen, who ran Detail in their spare time with the blessing of their employers, South Wales Police, developed software that could phrase the same question several ways. "Our system means students have to understand the subject to get the answer, They can't just remember which letter was right last time. The feedback on pass rates we have had is very positive. Our software, PASS, seems to be making a difference and it could be applied to any field."

Judges Comments

Detail Technologies have been successful so far, but their plans for expansion really are impressive. Christopher Torney - Editor, Enterprise Express, Daily Express View Video

Detail Technologies have taken an example of what is currently in practice and taken it a generation ahead of what is there in the marketplace already. Simon J. Bartley - Chair, CBI SME Council View Video

A fantastic application of technology. I was impressed by the way in which the business owners have shown determination and invested their own time, their own money and energies to bring a product to market. Prof. Robert Blackburn - Director of Research, Kingston University View Video

In terms of the way the business was discerned, constructed and sold to the outside world, it was a great story, and they are great winners. Roy Farndon - Head of Editorial, Business Hotline Publications View Video

This company embodied everything the competition stood for. They worked together and had the vision and entrepreneurship to take the business forward and really make it a success. Jane Michinson - Area Manager, HSBC Bank Plc View Video

If I had to sum this business up, it was a very good opportunity, well taken, well executed and well thought out. Tim Needham - Sky News View Video

"The success already enjoyed by previous finalists has placed them firmly in the public eye - many are now established as the new entrepreneurs to watch." Nigel Griffiths - Small Firms Minister - Daily Express, 1st May 2003   The police exam questions contained within both Pass and Pass Online are fully in line with the Centrex Ospre® syllabus and the current Blackstones Manuals. They can be used for any of the police Ospre® Pt 1 exams and also the National Investigators Exam.