Mayor’s entrepreneurs recharge London phone boxes for the 21st Century

• First revamped London telephone box unveiled on Tottenham Court Road, after ‘solarbox’ won £5,000 in Mayor’s Low Carbon Entrepreneur 2014 competition

• Free charging for mobile phones, tablets, cameras and personal electronic devices powered entirely by solar energy

• Further green ‘solarboxes’ to follow in early 2015

The first iconic London telephone box to be transformed into a free solar-powered mobile phone charger has been unveiled today on Tottenham Court Road. With support and funding from the Mayor of London, new company ‘solarbox’ is using this first installation as a pilot before turning more traditional phone boxes green early next year.

‘solarbox’ is the brainchild of recent LSE graduates Kirsty Kenney and Harold Craston, who won £5,000 and mentoring support as runners-up in the Mayor’s 2014 Low Carbon Entrepreneur competition this summer, enabling them to bring their new business to London’s streets.

The solar panelled phone boxes provide a clean, carbon-neutral source of energy for phones, tablets, cameras and other devices. Costs are covered through in-booth advertising space enabling the public to power-up free of charge.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “It’s fantastic to see our young entrepreneurs already up and running with this brilliant idea. In our modern world, where hardly any Londoner is complete without a raft of personal electronic gizmos in hand, it’s about time our iconic phone boxes were updated for the 21st Century, to be more useful, more sustainable, and just as striking with a marvellous new green makeover. As London’s low carbon economy grows, it’s new start-ups like this, with our funding and support, that are keeping London at the forefront of future technology.”

Co-founder of ‘solarbox’ Kirsty Kenney said: ‘Our idea was born out of our interest in the use of public space and renewable energy and is all about providing a service that people really need. We've all been caught out - phone battery life just can't keep up with the pace of our modern lives. By using solar power and repurposing old phone boxes we have been able to provide a real solution in an environmentally friendly way. It’s been an amazing journey, from winning in the competition, to now be bringing our first ‘solarbox’ to the streets of London, and we can’t wait to expand with more green boxes across the capital in the new year."

The Mayor’s Senior Advisor for Environment & Energy, Matthew Pencharz, and Low Carbon Entrepreneur judges Richard Reed, co-founder of Innocent Drinks, and Zac Goldsmith, environmentalist and MP for Richmond Park were the first to test out the new ‘solarbox’ outside the Dominion Theatre where Tottenham Court Road meets New Oxford Circus.

Richard Reed, co-founder of Innocent Drinks and Low Carbon Entrepreneur competition judge, said: “It’s brilliant to see ‘solarbox’ become a reality just 4 months after we chose them as winners in the 2014 Low Carbon Entrepreneur competition. Immediately their idea stood out as something Londoners really need and I’m sure no sooner has this first box launched demand for more will peak. So I wish them all the best and look forward to seeing many more across London soon.”

London’s rapidly growing low carbon goods and services sector is worth around £25 billion a year to the UK economy, and employs over 160,000 people.

The Mayor’s Low Carbon Entrepreneur competition invites student entrepreneurs to generate and pitch their carbon-busting business ideas to a panel of expert judges. The 2015 competition, once again sponsored by Siemens, will take entries from 20th October this year, closing in mid-February next year ahead of the grand final at the end of March 2015.

Siemens UK Chief Executive, Juergen Maier, said: “The success of ‘solarbox’demonstrates perfectly why Siemens has chosen to sponsor the Mayor’s Low Carbon Entrepreneur competition. Harold and Kirsty have combined their creativity with innovation and technology to set themselves up for what I’m sure will prove a very exciting business venture.”

Previous winners of the Mayor’s competition include 2012 winner Arthur Kay with Biobean, an innovative business that is converting used coffee grounds into biofuel. Also successful this year were Dominic Jacobson and James Winfield with their Crowd Power Plant idea which aims to increase use and generation of renewable power.

Please follow this link for images of the launch: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/c9ndrfm6tjfgn77/AACrt3VFCGjdz2lb5T1u-lWga?dl…