Grab The Market

Wooden prototype to US distribution in three years? Graham and Susan Renny are learning how to deploy the IP in their Grab-o-Saurus

One late summer afternoon in 2005, Graham Renny stood in his kitchen under the Black Mountains watching his wife pick up horse manure in their field - a back-bending task that you cannot skip.

But did it have to be such a chore, thought Renny? A former engineer in the oil industry, he disappeared into his shed for a week to see if he could find an alternative to shovel and rake.

He emerged with a wooden device like a pair of eagle’s claws that could pick up detritus from above rather than lifting it from below. He gave it to his wife, Susan, to try. She cleared the field in half an hour, easily halving the work and saving herself any back pain.

When their friends had a go, it quickly became clear that you could use it for all sorts of tasks round the garden. As anyone who has cut a hedge will tell you, the worst part is picking up all the cuttings.

Now 72 and 69, Graham and Susan felt excited enough to risk their pension pot to see how far they could take the idea. Helped by their two sons, they formed a company and wrote a business plan.

Then they asked all their family to put suggested names for the product into a hat. The "Grab-o-Saurus" was the clear winner. First, they trademarked the name. Then they applied for a patent. To their surprise, it was granted in 15 months.

A US patent followed even more quickly. Europe is next, then Hong Kong. Described as a long-handled, scissor-action, waste-collection device, Graham’s idea has been protected in full.

Just before Christmas in 2008, Radius Garden, a leading name in the US, signed a license to make and distribute the Grab-o-Saurus in North America. It is a deal that could open the way for global deployment in 2009, says Susan, a former journalist, who runs the day-to-day business.

In negotiating the agreement with Radius, the patents and trade marks were "massively important," she says. "Without them, they wouldn’t have looked at us."

Made by a plastics moulder in Redditch, the distribution is mainly through online catalogues, although talks are being held about going into garden centres.