That puzzle sparked an entrepreneur to deliver a solution and his creative journey led to this year’s Powys Business Awards.
The person who asked the question, Elliot Tanner, owner of Stashed Products Ltd, based in Abermule, near Newtown, won the Entrepreneurship Award, sponsored by CellPath, at the annual awards ceremony held at Dering Lines, Brecon.
Organised by Mid Wales Manufacturing Group (MWMG), the awards showcase the diverse range of successful enterprises within Powys.
As Elliot was out of the country, the award was received by John Davies and Julie Mytton from the company. “It’s a great honour to win such a prestigious award here in Powys and recognition for all the hard work at the development stage and the team in Abermule,” said John.
“It’s one more step towards world domination because there is no real leader in this market. Our customers include a Formula 1 driver, Olympians and world cycle champions but our product is for everyone. We want to ensure that if you have one or multiple bikes, you can store the safely and effectively.”
Elliot has been a bike enthusiast all his life, using them for pleasure, racing and personal transport. He even designed them as an engineer.
“They always have been and always will be a part of my life, even if they are pain to store!” he said. “Life changed when I had a family. The space we once had to store bikes was suddenly compromised and I had a choice – find a better storage solution or sell some bikes! That is how Stashed Products was born.”
Established in 2021, the company now has 11 staff who build bike storage systems with, in Elliot’s words, “no compromises in design, manufacturing, quality, aesthetics, or environmental responsibility”.
By improving how equipment is stored in the home or workspace, he wants to reduce barriers to bike access and use, and encourage healthy living. Elliot’s mantra is; “Don’t let poor storage stop you living the life you want.”
He describes his product, SpaceRail, as “a revolution in bike storage”, halving the space needed. SpaceRail reduces bike spacings to 150mm by rotating, sliding and overlapping bikes. Bikes slide along a rail for better access which makes it easier to charge E-Bikes.
Stashed Products manufactures as much as possible in-house to control quality and production processes and outsources specific skills to quality local suppliers. The supply chain is short and geographically tight to ensure the company is reactive to customer demand and does not damage its carbon footprint by importing products.
“Just local people, supplying locally made components, all designed, tested, manufactured and shipped from a factory in Mid Wales,” he added.
The judges said it was a closely fought category with all three finalists demonstrating entrepreneurship and business success.
“Stashed Products has a clear vision and is projecting ambitious growth with sales worldwide,” they added.
“The business has a sales and marketing strategy to achieve ambitious growth targets.”
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