A HI-TECH data consultancy in York which has worked out a way of helping universities to avoid being "elitist" has been won a top government grant.

LG01, a four-person venture based at the York Science Park Innovation Centre, has been given a £45,000 SMART award to drive forward its software product called ASP.

Standing for Analysis of Student Participation, the software is a useful tool for university authorities looking to recruit students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Judges of the SMART awards have hailed the product as "technically innovative", and predicted a strong market for it in the higher education sector.

It uses electronic maps to pinpoint where potential students come from and, drawing from data including average earnings and house prices for the area, targets nearby schools and sixth form colleges for recruitment visits.

The analysis is based on postal sectors but can be as specific as postcodes of six or seven houses.

Traditionally, digital maps are drawn by hand and are expensive to license. The grant will enable LGO1 to develop its own less expensive, automated way of creating them.

Robin Whyte, general manager, said there were plans also to apply the software to health authorities who could plot and possibly predict, the spread of infectious diseases across the country.

"It's a very free, versatile format," said Mr Whyte, one of the founders and joint partners of LG01 who met in Leeds when they were working for US data consultancy firm Polk, formerly GMAP, supplying business intelligence to the motor industry. They worked out of a basement office then broke free to form their own intelligence outfit.

Mr Whyte said: "Our name recalls the fact that our original office was on the lower ground floor, room number one."

LG01 moved to York at the end of 2000, lured to the city by its Inward Investment Board, initially at Tower Court in Clifton Moor. It later moved into the Innovation Centre in Heslington and specialised in data warehousing, data design and custom-built data processing systems.

As consultants, the venture has worked with some of the largest companies in the world, including Ford and Toyota in the automotive sector and Nortel Networks in the telecommunications and manufacturing arena.

LG01 was encouraged to apply for the SMART award by Roger Benson, adviser at the York and North Yorkshire Business Link.

Mr Benson said: "The technical expertise and potential for LG01 and this product is excellent. I was particularly impressed by the fact that the entrepreneurs have the backup to take their idea to fruition."

Updated: 09:47 Tuesday, July 08, 2003