Local woman with the invention and the initiative

Grainne Kelly from Londonderry has invented a portable, safe booster seat for children. She started her own business and is now looking to take on the world market.

Her invention is called the Bubblebum, an inflatable car seat for children. A portable booster seat helps with taxis, buses and other unplanned journeys. Safety is increased with a booster seat.

Grainne Kelly, the inventor, says that her business is bringing employment to Londonderry at a time when it needs it most.

“I have already been advertising for a few jobs in the North West. We are taking on staff in e-commerce. We are always getting bigger. I am from Derry, so when I win, everybody wins. We are going to take this global. I have had contact with people in the USA. Absolutely, we are going to take this to markets all over the world.”

Aside from the contribution to economic prosperity Grainne is hoping to make in the North West, her sense of initiative and entrepreneurship is particularly refreshing.

“I used my own savings. I have done everything off my own bat. Invest NI have been in touch now but I received no funding to date, everything has been done on my own initiative.”

She has some words of encouragement for others to get involved in business: “If you believe in yourself, if you believe in your product, if you have done enough research, if you listen to advice, you should go for it. You need to listen to the advice you get. I have had advice from a business angel. You have to be willing to listen to the advice you get. You also need cash and you need commitment.

”If you don’t sieze the initiative somebody else will. You always say, ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ Somebody has invented all those things you see when you look around you. If you don’t do it for yourself somebody else probably will.”

Grainne believes her invention came about through necessity. “I had discovered when I was travelling in England and in Europe that there was a problem with car-seats for children. I was hiring a car and there was nothing I could do. I had to travel for fifteen miles with no protection for my children. Not only was I endangering my children I was breaking the law.

“Modern families do a lot of travelling in cars, coaches and taxis, and bulky booster seats just aren't practical to carry around even for one child, never mind if you have two or three.”

She went on to conduct her research, again on her own initiative, to investigate the problem further. “Our survey was conducted in Primary Schools throughout Northern Ireland.”

Her research found that almost forty per cent of children on the school run had no booster seat.