A young entrepreneur from Glasgow has just secured a deal to supply her innovative new knee pad product to Homebase.
Founder of Recoil Knee Pads, Vicky Hamilton, 27, originally from Gourock developed the innovative Recoil Knee Pad for the trades and construction industry in 2013 during her studies at Strathclyde University.
The award winning and patent pending design, utilises springs sandwiched between two layers to absorb impact and then spread pressure evenly across the knee. The product offers wearers up to 76% pressure reduction on the knee in comparison to current solutions through its innovative 360 degree pivoting abilities.
Originally developed for Vicky’s Dad, Gordon, a tradesman with 25 years in the industry, who suffers from arthritis and severe knee pain, the product has gone from strength to strength over the last few years and been positively received by the market; with some customers going as far as to say the product has “saved me having to change occupation.”
The business has had a number of successes in recent years; including securing support from The Scottish EDGE fund to produce tooling and set up its manufacture with local injection moulders in Edinburgh – a fact the company is very proud off.
The deal with Homebase comes at a perfect time for the young company which is now in the process of finalising an investment deal which will allow it to scale internationally and recruit two additional employees in the coming months.
Vicky, herself a former employee of Homebase, said: “I started working for Homebase when I was 17 in their Greenock store. I left in 2013 to pursue Recoil, what followed was 2 years of product development and a year of manufacture set up. To get the product stocked by Homebase has been a goal of mine for a long time, so I’m really excited to finally see it on a shelf!”
The Young Entrepreneur, who is currently being supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering on their prestigious fellowship program also added: “The support to get to that stage from the UK ecosystem has been phenomenal. I wouldn’t have got to this stage without that encouragement.”
The young entrepreneur began selling on her website, before Homebase picked up on the product and decided to give it a listing. The stock will now be heading to the top 60 Homebase stores across the UK and into the 5 new Bunnings Warehouse Stores, also owned by the same group.
