StopLock

30 years old but still selling well

Still seen regularly on the streets this breakthrough in car security products led the way for a market revolution in the 90s. 

The inventive step came from noticing that there are no steering wheels with spokes in the top half as you need to see the dials. That allowed the elimination of the second hook or clamp mechanism which reduced cost but more importantly allowed the product to become something that people didn't mind having in their car. At the time the few existing products were rather 'agricultural'.

“Stoplock has stood the test of time. At its inception it would have predominately been used on older vehicles with less than adequate security levels. Today the problems of keyless entry have seen the product migrate to the premium end of the automotive market. We continue to see demand grow as car crime seems to be an ongoing problem.” 

Neil Haines, Chief Executive, Saxon Brands

ShowerSpa

Making the bathroom your favourite place

This started with a client with an idea for a shower that made you look younger - who wouldn't buy that? He had a cool new anti-ageing 'cosmeceutical' that when mixed with the shower water would give you an all over touchless spa treatment and do just that.

It was before it's time but with the rise of the self care aficionado this idea is on the rise again and some new technology now lets you mix whatever you want with the water.

Vertical bubble bath anyone?

KapKeep

Circular Economy OpenIdeo Challenge

It’s time to end the outdated production model of take, make, and dispose.

To ensure the health of our people and planet, we need to build circular systems that reduce waste and add value across the entire life cycle of the products we produce and consume.  

The KapKeep bottle was inspired by the way people used to stick the foil top of a old fashioned milk bottle to the side of the bottle to stop it getting lost. It was the fat on the underside of the lid that made it stick!

By giving the drinker somewhere to keep the cap it prevents them getting lost and ending up washed up on beaches.

Garden Hose Feeder

No more heavy watering cans.

Feeding your lawn using your garden hose is in the market already but existing products face challenges with variable water pressure which makes it hard to know if your garden is getting the feed it needs.

This solution solved that problem using a patented pressure assisted mixing system where if the flowrate dropped so to did the amount of fertilizer added. This meant that the all important dilution ratio was maintained whether your hose was gushing or trickling.

“Apex Ideas showed us a completely new way of solving an existing market need that was strongly differentiated from the competition and highly patentable”

Robert B, Hozelock

Pop-Up Teabag

Beating the Pyramid

The PG Tips pyramid bag gives the tea leaves more room to move (as the knitted monkey kept telling us) but it didn't pack well into the box and ended up all scrunched up.

The 'pop-up' teabag had the best of both worlds in that it was flat, space saving and neat in the box but as soon as you made tea with it it magically transformed  into a sphere giving maximum 'room to move'.

This was achieved using a material that was well known in an industry totally unrelated to tea - sometimes the best innovations come from bringing the best of two different worlds together.