Three SMEs picked to trial asset monitoring and passenger sentiment AI at Glasgow Airport

Connected Places Catapult has selected Beam Connectivity, Createc and Wordnerds to trial asset monitoring, LiDAR crowd analytics and AI-driven passenger feedback tools at Glasgow Airport through the fourth cohort of its Connected Airport Living Lab.

The programme, funded by Innovate UK, gives small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the chance to develop, test and demonstrate late-stage technologies in a live airport, the Catapult said. It is run in partnership with Glasgow Airport, part of AGS Airports.

Each selected company receives funding of up to £30,000, commercial support from the Catapult, introductions to industry stakeholders and access to airport facilities for its trial, according to the announcement.

Gavin Birch-Williams, Managing Director of Glasgow Airport, said: "Glasgow Airport has become a proving ground for innovative technologies that can solve real operational challenges while improving the passenger experience."

The three challenges

Glasgow Airport helped set three challenges for applicants, the Catapult said: managing the performance of large assets such as escalators, lifts, scanners and car park barriers; understanding passenger sentiment; and combining passenger feedback from sources including social media, intelligent voice recognition and formal complaints.

The Catapult's call for applications framed the asset challenge as how such assets might be monitored to better predict and maintain their performance.

Beam Connectivity will trial its Connectivity as a Service (CaaS) platform, which the Catapult said gives real-time visibility of asset health and performance. The company said on its own website that it was started in January 2020 by its four co-founders and received investment in 2023 to accelerate commercialisation of the CaaS platform.

Createc is trialling Situate, which combines anonymous LiDAR movement data with live passenger feedback to measure how crowding, queues, waiting and movement affect the airport experience. The Catapult said it will produce a live experience score, trends and early warnings so airport teams can intervene sooner and assess recovery.

The Catapult describes Createc as a UK technology company specialising in robotics, artificial intelligence and advanced sensing. GOV.UK describes it as a Cumbria-based SME founded by a small group of researchers. According to the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), Createc's LiDAR crowd-monitoring technology creates an anonymous track for each individual in the observation area, underwent year-long trials at Euston Station and Luton Airport, and was acquired by Network Rail for deployment at Waterloo station in 2024. That work was funded through the DASA Security Open Call.

Wordnerds will work with Glasgow Airport to build bespoke models trained on real passenger feedback and operational data, and will test AI and agentic reporting capabilities, the Catapult said.

Sameer Savani, Transport Managing Director at Connected Places Catapult, said: "Operational excellence is an ever-evolving challenge for airports and innovation is crucial to meeting customer standards and needs."

Route to procurement

The Catapult said the Living Lab has been running since 2023 and describes it as a network of partnerships between itself and UK airports. Its project page records one multi-airport contract secured by an SME through the programme, and says four emerging technology companies have demonstrated new approaches to airport pavement inspection.

That contract went to programme alumnus Hello Lamp Post, whose digital assistant was introduced at Glasgow Airport through the Living Lab demonstrator. In November 2025 the Catapult announced the company had won a multi-year contract covering Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports.

According to the Catapult, the Hello Lamp Post trial cut queries to customer service staff by 50% and recorded an 86% satisfaction rate among users. Tiernan Mines, Chief Executive of Hello Lamp Post, said at the time that the Living Lab had acted as a safe space for the airport and his company to work together.

Participating SMEs also receive guidance on airport procurement routes, access to data and evaluation support, and tailored commercial support based on a business needs assessment, according to the Catapult's programme page.

Timeline

Applications for the fourth cohort opened on 13 July 2026 and closed at midday on 17 August, with up to three UK-based SMEs to be selected. Eligible companies needed a solution at technology readiness level 5 to 9.

The Catapult described the programme as a six-month opportunity. Participants must be available for programme activities between 1 September 2026 and 31 March 2027.