A Norfolk business has been given nearly £1million to help it develop new products to transport seafood safely around the world.

iBoxit, a start-up founded in Norwich five years ago, will receive £850,000 from Innovate UK to fund its mission to create environmentally friendly seafood packaging from its headquarters at Norwich Research Park.

The project aims to create an alternative to polystyrene wrappings, which is the most common method used to ship fresh fish, by finding different washes for seafood prior to packaging.

The firm is also looking at corrugated boxes used with reusable ice packs, and reusable composite plastic boxes made of recycled plastic and strawberry plants.

A new team will start working on the project this month, with the company expecting it to run for around two and a half years.

It follows the firm’s previous work, which includes a film and spray for use on seafood, which improves shelf-life of the notoriously short-lived food with no impact on the taste or nutritional benefits.

John Farley, founder and CEO of iBoxit, said: “The company was created with a goal of giving something back – of creating sustainable, planet-friendly packaging in the hands of businesses to allow them to ship goods in a way that does the least possible damage to the environment.

“Thanks to this grant, we can really get to work on our new project and start to find a way to help the fishing industry cut down on pollution while still getting fresh, healthy food to people across the country.

“We’ve received some wonderful support from Laura Hill and her team at Norfolk County Council, and without their help we wouldn’t have this funding or this opportunity to get to work on making a key food industry less polluting and more efficient.”