<div>
<UL>
<LI>Prime Minister congratulates the 1,000 most innovative businesses in the UK
</UL>
<P>
Prime Minister Tony Blair today hailed the full and final list of all
1,012 Millennium Products companies as `the very best of British innovation,
creativity and design.'
</P>
<P>
Unveiling a further 235 Millennium Products at the fifth and final
announcement of the Design Council's initiative at Skyscape, at the Millennium
Dome, Mr Blair was joined by hundreds of Millennium Products businessmen and
women.
</P>
<P>
The Prime Minister told them: &quot;Congratulations to all of you on your
imagination, your ingenuity and inspiration. Our future success depends on the
qualities you, your product and your company embody.
</P>
<P>
&quot;I am absolutely delighted to be with all of you who have achieved that
status and can justifiably claim, as Millennium Product companies, to
represent the very best of British innovation, creativity and design.
</P>
<P>
&quot;Each one of you knows that creativity and innovation are at the heart of
a successful business. They are also the foundations upon which our future
economic success depends.&quot;
</P>
<P>
Mr Blair also announced that the stories behind Millennium Products are to
become a key part of the Design Council's new Sharing Innovation programme of
initiatives and events next year. Millennium Products are already represented
on the Design Council's Spiral of Innovation which sits next to the Millennium
Dome on the Greenwich peninsula.
</P>
<P>
Chairman of the Design Council John Sorrell said: &quot;These more than 1,000
products and services represent the final, conclusive proof of what we have
been claiming these last two years: that Britain really is one of the most
creative, innovative nations in the world. Sharing Innovation will ensure that
we continue to learn from the stories behind them.&quot;
</P>
<P>
Design Council Chief Executive Andrew Summers said: &quot;The breadth and
diversity of Millennium Products has been truly inspiring and, with the
Sharing Innovation programme, we hope they will encourage future generations
of innovators to continue Britain's creative revolution.&quot;
</P>
<P>
Among the final round of Millennium Products announced today are the BBC's
spectacular Walking with Dinosaurs series, BAe's medal-winning Skeleton
Bobsled and the Royal Mail's Millennium Stamps. There is also a supermarket
trolley made of recyclable plastic which promises the end of discarded,
rusting eyesores, a luminous fishnet which improves catch levels at night and
the only remote submarine in the world which can withstand depths of 6kms.
</P>
<P>
New medical products in this final round include: Adaptive Spectacles
designed for the developing world which can be adjusted for different
prescriptions without an optician; clothing by Marks &amp; Spencer for children
with skin conditions; a special face mask to help premature babies breathe.
</P>
<P>
New computer and communications Millennium Products include Legion
software which predicts crowd movement in public spaces, the Open interactive
television system which brings e-mail to your TV, and Plasma 42, a public
information system displayed on giant plasma screens.
</P>
<P>
New architectural Millennium Products include an easily-assembled
Emergency Shelter for disaster relief areas, the Hulme Arch Bridge in
Manchester, the armadillo-like Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, new
Peckham Library in South London and the highly innovative Notley Green Primary
School in Essex.
</P>
<P>
Notes to Editors:
</P>
<P>
1. Further information about Millennium Products, the Design Council and
its forthcoming Sharing Innovation programme is attached.
</P>
<P>
2. High resolution pictures can be downloaded from the Millennium Products
website at <A target="_blank" href="http://www.millennium-products.org.uk.">http://www.millennium-products.org.uk.</A>
</P>
<P>
3. A complete list of all 1,012 Millennium Products is available from the
Design Council in hard copy or electronic form. All Millennium Products are
also featured at <A target="_blank" href="http://www.millennium-products.org.uk.">http://www.millennium-products.org.uk.</A>
</P>
<P>
4. For further enquiries about the Design Council, Millennium Products or
Sharing Innovation, contact: Nick Skeens, 01621 783332/ mobile 07801 346658
Luke Blair, 020 7420 5239/ mobile 0976 557880. Nell Cozens (trade) 020 7420
5273/ mobile 07803 945260, Helen Obi, 020 7420 5241. Lorna Webster (regional),
01702 203243, e-mail,
mpmedia@design-council.org.uk .
</P>
<P>
5. VNR footage in BETA SP format can be obtained from: Beth Golding, World
Wide Pictures, 020 7434 1121
</P>
<P>
6. For further copies of the Prime Minister's speech, contact: Downing St
Press Office, 020 7930 4433.
</P>
<P>
7. For further information about the Millennium Dome, contact: Gez Sagar,
NMEC 020 7808 8303
</P>
<P>
8. For further information about Skyscape contact: Gabrielle Owtram, 020
8293 8663.
</P>
</div>
