A long-term Reepham resident has sold a design and engineering manufacturing business and is now looking to help other local budding entrepreneurs.
MGB Easy Handling (BinBoy Ltd) was created in 2014 by Mark Bridges, who designed and built electric manual material handling equipment for a range of sectors including construction, memorial masons and automotive.
Mark Bridges with the GoodsMan 350 electric sack truck for multi-terrain material handling. Photos: MGB Easy Handling
The first product was the BinBoy powered trolley for moving wheelie bins, designed initially as a bespoke project for a resident who wanted to move his bins over a long gravel drive.
Subsequent development resulted in the GoodsMan electric sack truck and a range of electric powered trucks and trollies, as well as specialist manual handling projects for the rail, electric car battery and other industries.
Mr Bridges registered the patents for his products and sales extended well beyond the UK, including Europe, Hong Kong and even a North Sea oil platform.
He sought funding at critical stages of the business’s development through investment angels with a “Dragon’s Den”-style pitch – investors came on board and were rewarded with good returns, he said.
The company has had a net turnover of £1.7 million over its eight-year existence, from the struggles of the early days to year-on-year growth over the past two years of 18% and 24% respectively.
Eight years on, Mr Bridges has sold the Lenwade-based business to a multinational company which is looking to develop the electric handling range and use his engineering skills and creativity for a period to drive its research and development to broader horizons.
Reflecting on the journey he has taken with the business, Mr Bridges said: “I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been a part of the MGB/BinBoy story.
“I’ve had customers say they’d rather lose an arm than lose their sack truck. To have that level of appreciation of something I have invented is phenomenal.”
Mr Bridges intends to carry on inventing solutions to problems large and small and would also be happy to help others develop their ideas.
“My experience has taught me that few understand the challenges of taking a new idea and product to market and the effort needed to change mindsets,” he said. “Good and sound advice is hard to find.”
MGB Easy Handling. Tel: 01603 879175. Email
See our earlier story:
The GoodsMan PT600 platform truck allows easy transit over grass, gravel and slopes.