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Make me a million
WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO MEET
a group of inventors it's hard to know
what to expect.
As I made my way to the monthly
meeting of the Wessex Round Table of
Inventors (WRTI) at Solent University,
I had two clashing images in my mind.
One was a madcap scientist character
like Doc Brown in Back to the Future
with crazy white hair, a lab coat and a
string of off the wall inventions such as
X-ray specs and mind-reading devices.
The other was the contestants from
Dragon's Den, sensibly pitching their
solutions to life's problems while
talking profit margins and projected
sales figures.
When I arrived at the meeting I was
both relieved and a little disappointed
to find that the vast majority, if not all
of, the 25 or so people gathered fell
very much into the latter category.
A few of them had brought their
inventions with them - special hose pipe
connectors, a new kind of spanner and
rather alarmingly a shotgun holster
complete with a gun to demonstrate
how it works.
There was also a top-secret project
which one of the members wants to get
advice on. It's so hush-hush for fear of
someone outside stealing the idea that
I had to sign a form to say I won't talk
about it to anyone else.
Their reasons for attending vary, as
do the level of success they've had with
their inventions.
Brian Stickley's Talking Labels, which
help blind people identify tins, tablets
etc, have helped make his Talking
Products company an international
success. Tonight he was giving a talk
about what he's achieved so far,
presumably to inspire the other, less
successful, inventors gathered.
Kim Weiler, from Milton-on-Sea, who
was wielding the shotgun, has also had
a certain amount of success.
A keen shooter, she came up with a
special kind of holster which allows you
to comfortably carry your gun while
keeping your hands free.
Her invention, which won her a
double gold award at the British
Invention Show in October, is on sale
both here and in the States.
She came up with the idea of the
holster for herself but found that there
was so much interest from fellow
shooting enthusiasts that she decided
to patent it and have it made
professionally.
Kim started coming to the WRTI
when she won membership and has
found it very helpful.
She was even invited to appear on
Dragon's Den last spring but decided
against it at the last minute because she
was concerned that her reception by the
Dragons could damage the public
perception of blood sports.
Her holster, known as the Scott
Holster, has been doing well without
the Dragons' help, though she said she's
never going to make her fortune from it.
"I made it just to see if it would
work," she said.
"I was really pleased people wanted to
buy something I'd designed."
While Kim's invention is in the public
domain, various veils of secrecy surround
some of the other creations that were
brought along tonight, with some of
those involved hoping to make a mint.
These included Ian Moore, a retired
doctor from Chilworth, who is working
as an adviser to and partner with 79-
year-old inventor Geoff Baker.
Ian has high hopes that Geoff's pipe connector, which has patents pending in
most major countries, will make them
millionaires.
Geoff isn't so sure though - for one
thing, as he declared: "I'm almost 80
- what would I do with the money?".
A retired aeronautical engineer, he
seemed more interested in pottering
round with his hobby of creating things
rather than pursuing it as a serious
business.
But Ian is confident that the connector
- which would be used to connect pipes
such as hoses and which I can confirm
is extremely user-friendly - will be on
the shelves world wide in six months
to two years.
"If it really runs turnover will be
measured in millions," he said
enthusiastically.
"An inventor offering a licence with
exclusivity could expect five per cent
of that turnover."
Geoff, who seems like he belongs in a
garden shed, pottering round with his
creations, and business-orientated Ian
seemed like a rather unlikely match but
one of the important services the WRTI
offers is bringing together people with
complementary skills and expertise to
turn their inventions into successful
business enterprises.
Peter Hebard, one of the WRTI's
committee members, says that it is vital
for the British economy that more homegrown
inventions go on sale in the
international market.
His enthusiasm for promoting British
inventors was tangible. In fact, the ethos
of helpfulness in the meeting is
impressive.
The meeting is almost the opposite of
Dragon's Den. Members might not be in
a position to offer their fellow inventors
a wodge of cash to get them going but
support, suggestions and advice were
pretty free-flowing.
Not that all the advice was necessarily
appreciated though.
While suggestions such as where to go
for funding were well received, others that
suggest the design may be flawed or even
pointless didn't go down so well.
Understandably people are protective
of their babies' - their creations - and
mostly seemed pretty uncomfortable
about being on the receiving end of
criticism, however constructive it might
have been.
Some of the creations that were in the
pipeline at WRTI's meeting will
undoubtedly fall by the wayside but
some of them are already well on their
way to success. Who knows, maybe one
of tonight's inventors could be one of
tomorrow's millionaire entrepreneurs.
But will it be the creator of the special
spanner, the pipe connector, or even the
top-secret project? Only time will tell.
■ For more information about the
Wessex Round Table of Inventors visit:
wrti.org.uk
9:57am Tuesday 4th March 2008
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