2025 Award for Advanced Needle Technology

We are delighted to announce, following much hard work from the Worshipful Company of Needlemakers’ project team a new initiative, The Needlemakers’ Award for Advanced Needle Technology. The Needlemakers (one of 113 livery companies in the City of London, see www.needlemakers.org.uk) have a long history of supporting both needle making and needle usage, and this initiative widens that support for biotechnology and healthcare innovation. Our new award aims to support an early-stage project developing medical or bioscience products, technologies or services making use of the innovative and/or advanced use of needles or needle replacements for the benefit of patients and wider society. Full details of the Award Policy can be found on the Needlemakers’ Company website. We will make this award working in conjunction with the Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs and its charitable trust, whose Entrepreneurs’ Award in Social Innovation (EASI) is a highly successful and established programme and grant mechanism. This partnership with the Entrepreneurs and the EASI programme means that both Companies can benefit from shared resources, knowledge and networks for the purpose of supporting and escalating early-stage innovation. 

Award Process 

Entrants are invited to complete the application form downloadable here Needlemakers Award and return it by email to [email protected] by no later than 17 April 2025. 

 Applications will be assessed – and the winner selected – by a panel of judges, including: 

• Dr Tom Bashford, Consultant Anaesthetist & Assistant Professor in Healthcare Systems, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge 
• Professor Teresa Lambe, Professor of Vaccinology and Immunology, Oxford University 
• Liveryman Ian Quirk, CEO and Founder of Active Needle Technology Ltd. 
• Dr Mark Slack, Chief Medical Officer, and Co-Founder of CMR Surgical 
• Liveryman Helen Tomkys, Head of Global Health Security Preparedness, Department of Health & Social Care 

Applications will be assessed by the Panel against the criteria set out in the Award Policy. An initial shortlist of applicants will be selected and invited to present their project to the panel via video call. The Award winner will be announced on or around 27 May 2025 and invited to receive the Award at a Needlemakers event in central London in early July. The Award winner will benefit from a package of support provided by the Needlemakers in conjunction with the Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs, comprising a programme of workshops and mentoring together with access to valuable networks, and a one-off prize of £7,500 payable by the Needlemakers to the applicant organisation.