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Two former colleagues made redundant following the closure of Birmingham van maker LDV are set to make a fresh start after being shortlisted as finalists in the prestigious Lord Stafford Awards.
Gary Doyle and his friend Paul Taylor, both from Birmingham, have been helping to maintain the LDV factory since the firm’s closure earlier this year. Following its sale to Chinese engineering firm Eco Concept the duo are set to lose their jobs.
However, the vanmaker’s demise is a mixed blessing for the duo who have developed a groundbreaking luxury shower device and will now be able to devote their energies to building up their new business, Innovations 28.
The device has been nominated in the Entrepreneurial Spirit category of the Lord Stafford Awards which seeks to showcase and celebrate collaboration between universities and business.
The two friends first set up the business after a friend returned from a luxury spa day and said how invigorated he had felt after a shower treatment and challenged the two men to replicate the experience in his home.
They looked at the problem and devised a solution which involved fitting a special bottle attachment to an existing shower system.
The duo christened the product ‘The Rejuvenator’ although its UK patent describes it as an Atomising Mixing Unit. The system allows a specific amount of a shower gel, soap or other detergent or even a perfume or fragrance to be added to the water flow enhancing the shower experience. The system, which could also reduce water consumption by up to 40 per cent, can also be adapted to fit a tap or even a toilet cistern.
The device works so pressure from the shower forces the combination of air, water and admixture through the mixing unit. The possibilities for the device are considerable and go way beyond the health and beauty market.
The water-based solution that is automatically drawn in, mixed and rendered from the shower head, can be easily interchanged to deliver applications ranging from animal shampooing to skin treatments and even anti-malaria and anti-biological warfare treatments. Gary and Paul have also held talks with the NHS to persuade it of the health benefits to people with disabilities who would normally have difficulty taking a shower as well as reducing the risk of infections such as MRSA.
To help them with the design work, Gary and Paul were referred to Coventry University by an independent electronics engineer. The duo were quick to appreciate the benefits of collaboration.
“The university offered us far more expertise than we could have imagined. It provided us with help in design, engineering and marketing as a well as bespoke start-up business support,” said Gary.
The two men also registered their company at the university in order to maximise opportunities for both product and business development.
After the business secured £2,500 from the European Regional Development Fund’s Design 4 Entrepreneurs funding stream, the university’s School of Art and Design set about designing and CAD modelling their product casing, wall-mounting fixings and building in the inner workings based around the concept supplied, ready for prototyping and mechanically testing.
The design school pitched the project to fourth year Industrial Design placement students and selected one student based on their 3D modelling skills to assist with the computer modelling and animation; which gave the student hands-on and commercial experience and a live application in which to develop their skills.
The Design Hub, part of Coventry University Enterprises, then used the computer models to produce photo-realistic images to demonstrate the variety of uses and potential markets. The images were also put into a corporate presentation that was sent to potential clients and used to pitch to investors. This helped to raise interest in the Rejuvenator project with potential collaborators including one major detergent manufacturer and has helped secure an income of £9,000 for further development of the product. This will include functionality testing with the School of Engineering and Computing.
The Design Hub also produced the branding for the product which is used on publicity literature and will translate across the company website - also being designed and built by Coventry University.
The business has recently secured additional help through Advantage Proof of Concept, a funding pool distributed through Advantage West Midlands. This has enabled Gary and Paul to work in conjunction with the Design Institute to carry out improvements to their product to prove full functionality.
Measures include fluid dynamics and thermal investigation, chemical trials of the admixture and user trials in a variety of environments - many of which can be trialled or tested within the university’s faculties.
A working prototype is currently being produced in conjunction with the university’s Design Institute and the School of Engineering. The university will then assist with the tooling design so a set quantity of the Rejuvenator can be produced in order to promote, trial and market.
“We want to amend the patent so we will have design rights on the shower bottle. The Design Institute is carrying out the tests and will make the improvements, which should ultimately ensure the business gets the right machine files in order to manufacture the finished product.
“But all this wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the university. They have been great to us and winning the award would be fitting recognition of their work as well as a boost to our product,” said Gary.
Lord Stafford, Patron of the Awards, said: “The Innovations 28 team have worked wonders alongside the University to bring this invention to life and I am delighted that their efforts have been rewarded with a shortlisting for the Awards.”