An ex-airline captain and aircraft engineer swapped planes for plants when designing a new product, which is fully produced in Blackburn thanks to support from Regenerate Pennine Lancashire.
Nick Porter and David Ash of Phlash Products came up with the idea of a unique tube shaped, vertical garden basket, the Polanter, during a brainstorming session at their local pub.
Nick said: “It was a kind of accident. I was speaking to Dave about plants. He’d made this plant hanger using a drainpipe, and we figured out how we could adapt the design to make the plants easier to water. Dave made a prototype and hung it up outside. It looked great and people were knocking on the door asking where it was from.”
The pair took their product design to Verifyne Plastics in Blackburn, who also package the product. However, one component was imported from Greece and the pair realised that costs could be saved if it was produced locally. Nick contacted Regenerate’s Lancashire Innovation Network (LIN) for help. LIN is supported by the European Regional Development Fund.
Nick said “LIN provided us with a grant which helped to fund what was needed to fully manufacture the component in Lancashire through Verifyne. Their support also helped us modify the design so it uses less water, which means our business will not be affected by a hosepipe ban and it will allow us to export the product to drier areas.”
Orders for the product have been received from B&Q and Wilkinsons, and there has been interest from retailers in the USA, including Wallmart.
Steve Hoyle, Managing Director of Regenerate said:
“Our LIN advisors are always willing to work alongside companies like Phlash to find ways they can become more competitive through innovation and work with them to achieve these. Sometimes, all it takes is a product design change or the means to produce parts in-house to develop new markets and increase sales.”
