INSIGHTS / News

James Madelin of photo accessory company Enlight Photo has won the prestigious Innovation Award at this year’s Insider South West 42 under 42 Dinner. The evening was hosted at the Bristol Hotel and celebrated the 2013 class of 42 under 42 members – the region’s most promising business people under the age of 42. 

Madelin is a photographer who turned himself into an inventor of photographic accessories. He founded Enlight Photo with his wife Naomi while living in New Zealand in 2006, when he developed the orbis Ringflash, which came to market in December 2008. Since then he’s developed a range of accessories. After returning to the UK in 2012, he sought out an incubator and met up with SETsquared’s Nick Sturge. Enlight Photo’s other big seller is ioShutter, which allows photographers to use their iPhone to control their SLR camera and is on sale in Apple stores and online. New products are due to launch over the summer. 

Neil Tague, the editor of South West Business Insider, said: “Originally this was chosen as an important age as it was ten years younger than the average age of the Rich List. We aim to pick 42 rising business stars under the age of 42 each year – simple. But the idea has matured and developed; we’re not trying to pick the next Stephen Lansdown or James Dyson necessarily, but identify and celebrate a number of exciting businesses and create a club, something where membership means something.” 

James said: “I nearly fell off my chair with surprise. Having recently moved the company to Bristol, a hotbed of astounding tech businesses, it’s a massive honour to be handed the Insider Innovation Award. It’s great validation of both the work my team and I have done over the last few years, and great motivation to continue building our brand from our new Bristol UK HQ !”