A BROTHER and sister have hit success with their futurist lighting business.

The Nelson born and bred team who are based at the Northern Technologies Innovation Centre in Nelson, started their business last year and are already planning to expand.

Jonathan and Emma Lang believe their brother and sister partnership is the backbone behind the success of their company, Futuristic Fibre Optics (F20).

Emma, 25, said: "Individually we're quite different but that works to our advantage as we both possess a complementary skill set, while remaining on the same wavelength."

The company designs, supplies and installs fibre optic lighting systems dealing with a diverse range of commercial, retail and entertainment businesses from nightclubs, bars, restaurants and cinemas to art galleries and aquariums.

The star siblings won the Regional Round of the Shell Livewire Entrepreneur of the Year Award earlier this year.

Not ones to stand still, Emma and Jonathan, 22, are determined to build on F20's reputation and are constantly on the lookout for new ways of taking their lighting systems forward.

They work with clients throughout the UK, although here in the North West they have completed the feature staircase at The Great Northern Warehouse, Manchester, and the lighting of the Spire on K2, which is the tallest building in Leeds.

The business was originally launched by Jonathan, who had the idea of illuminating marinas and waterfronts, but when several inquiries came in from other areas they decided to concentrate on promoting the effects that can be achieved with fibre optic lighting in public and commercial areas.

"I knew the potential of the technology was huge and that its use was pretty limited at present," said Jonathan.

Setting up their own company wasn't an easy decision and it was a significant career change for the pair. Jonathan is a Marine Biology Graduate and Emma is qualified in Commerce, Economics and French.

Emma explained: "It was a big move, I'd just returned from working in Hong Kong when we started exploring the business opportunities presented by fibre optics and I ended up turning down a lucrative job at Morgan Stanley in London to work up here".

To keep costs down the company was set up at home for the first six months and then moved into offices at Northern Technologies Innovation Centre in January this year.

"Re-educating specifiers that fibre optics are now a more realistic alternative to conventional lighting has been key.

"This has been enhanced by improved consumer awareness that the choice of lighting will have."