An innovative company has shown the British lift industry it is on the way up.

Britton Price, based at the Hove Business Centre, has been named the country's best lift innovator.

The company's latest model, the X-H20 is a hydraulic lift that does not need space for a machine room. It beat stiff competition from the industry's giants to take the award.

The lift is described as safe, environmentally-friendly and cheap to run. It is the creation of technical director Paul Britton, who set out to design the most advanced and cost-effective machine-room-less lift possible.

Helping him celebrate the win were the firm's 40-strong workforce.

Chairman Martin Pollins said: "This is a fabulous accolade for us. Paul Britton is a brilliant innovator and innovation is our brand culture.

"This has helped us achieve spectacular growth in just five years. I am thrilled to have won this award but have challenged everyone at Britton Price to win not just the innovation award next year but the customer service and refurbishment awards as well."

Britton Price wanted to create the greenest lift on the market and so, for the first time in a century, a lift is operating on a water-based fluid.

This was first developed for deep-sea exploration and combines the environmental benefits of water with high operating performance.

Thanks to a special energy storage system, power consumption is very low. Tests during development suggested up to 75 per cent less than conventional lifts, making it possible to run the lift from a domestic electrical supply.

Passenger comfort has been a priority, too, with floor-levelling capabilities and specially-created operating software, making it the smoothest and safest lift in its field.

Installation and maintenance were not overlooked. All components were designed as simply as possible to limit downtime during installation and ease of maintenance in operation.

The firm supplies and services lifts throughout the UK. Its customers include hospitals and care homes, public buildings, shopping centres, commercial buildings and, increasingly, private homes.

It supplies lifts to large international and national organisations. Recently, it acquired Dewcroft Southern Lifts, which services, repairs and refurbishes lifts in London and the South-East.