A Gloucestershire inventor who went head-to-head in a boxing session with another business leader from the county has struck a deal after the unusual meeting.
Vivian Blick, co-founder of Sanitiser Sentinel - a company that has developed tech that reminds people to clean their hands - and Mark Wadley, managing director of cutting tool distributor Fast Tools, met at Gloucester boxing gym Fight Factory.
After hearing about the device, which alerts people passing to use nearby hand sanitisers, Mr Wadley suggested it would appeal to businesses in the engineering sector.
He introduced Mr Blick to the purchasing manager of engineering distributor Troy UK, Karl Morgan.
After pitching his idea, Mr Blick struck a deal with Troy UK which will see the company act as a distributor for Sanitiser Sentinel.
“I’m excited to be working on this project with Mark and Karl. Often the most successful opportunities arrive when you least expect them, and I am looking forward to working with Troy UK to get the Sanitiser Sentinel message out there for all to hear," said Mr Blick.
The Gloucestershire entrepreneur, who was part of the team that developed and launched the wind-up radio, says his latest invention is the world’s first spoken and visual reminder for hand sanitisation.
"I’ve gathered plenty of experience over the years working on product inventions, but none of the previous inventions I have worked on compare to Sanitiser Sentinel," he added.
"The connections and suppliers Troy UK have access to will help to get this brilliant and much-needed technology in front of the right companies to help to save more lives.”
The technology, which aims to limit the spread of germs, has up to 26 selectable messages built in, spoken in as many as 20 different languages.
The device has already been adopted in several countries around the world and has been installed across NHS sites and private practices across the UK for clinical trials.
Mr Morgan added: “As a company we pride ourselves in championing independent distributers such as Sanitiser Sentinel and we are excited to offer them the service of being an extension of their team, giving a competitive advantage to our suppliers.
“Sanitiser Sentinel is a fantastic product which we hope will be a success and our vast range of customers will ensure it gets in front of the right people, who will be able to push this product into a wider range of public spaces across the UK.”
