Lockabox has won the overall Devon Business Excellence Awards that took place on Friday, 18 March at Torquay’s Riviera International Conference Centre.
About Lockabox
Lockabox is a small innovation led business founded by Peter Morris, aged 29 of Kingsbridge, Devon. Peter picked up the award for Young Entrepreneur of the Year as well as the award for overall Business of the Year.
“It was a massive surprise and it’s a credit to everything I have put in and to the people who have helped me along the way”, said Peter Morris. He continued with “The last four years building Lockabox suddenly feels slightly less difficult. Thank you Hillside Product Design for all your help”.
How it started
Lockabox was born out of frustration in 2012 when the then music student, Peter had to find a way to stop fellow housemates using his food from the shared fridge.
After working on his idea alongside his studies for two years, he entered a grant funding competition at his university. That was the moment when a ‘bedroom idea’ suddenly became real, and the next 12 months became about refining the design and securing Intellectual Property ready to demonstrate to potential buyers and customers.
Peter employed the services of design consultancy, Hillside Product Design Limited to assist in developing the current handmade prototype into a volume ready product.
Diverse Use
Lockabox is a hygienic, secure lockable storage box for food in shared fridges, and also useful for keeping medicines safe and securing household items. Being exceptionally versatile and made to a very high standard, Lockabox is ideal for a number of uses and market sectors, such as retail, medical, healthcare, military and the student accommodation market.
Lockabox is made from premium food grade polycarbonate plastic at the medical grade moulding facility of RW Simon Limited in Torrington. The same family of materials used for Police riot shields, modern automobile windscreens and personal protective equipment (PPE).
Peter designed the packaging graphics himself to ready Lockabox for its debut in one of the most prestigious retailers in the UK. Peter also designed his website which is also used as a sales portal.
With the help of investors, business associates and friends Peter took control of on-the-ground marketing, product assembly, and order fulfilment from his newly created online store.
Success after success
Lockabox was then launched in John Lewis stores nationwide. The Lockabox team were invited to the flagship Oxford Street store for a filmed promotion event to showcase this new innovation now available on the UK market. It was chosen as one of five products to be represented by the Made in Britain campaign at the Going Global Event at London Olympia, and Peter was the main guest speaker at the Junior Chamber of Commerce event in Hampshire.
Peter recently attended the Spring Fair at Birmingham NEC. Unsure of what to expect, he was inundated with enquiries, potential collaborations and some major sales opportunities. Dragons Den’s Theo Paphitis has now reviewed Lockabox for his stores, a major supermarket is due to review Lockabox in March, two global licencing deals are in the mix and a Lockabox even made its way to David Cameron in No.10 Downing Street.
Peter is a great supporter of the Made in Britain campaign and proud to be endorsed by them.
Lockabox continues to grow, due to Peter’s determination to make his product a success with Hillside Product Design’s help and guidance.
“Hillside has given life to his vision and guided him when asked”, said Chris Howsam, Director of Hillside Product Design. “Peter deserved everything that night and in some small part, we had made that journey with him”, concluded Chris.
As a small entrepreneurial start-up business that’s moving fast, Peter is now looking for affiliates to become part of his team and help him take Lockabox to the next level.
Let’s Create Something Great Together
If you’ve got an idea you want to take to market, we will assist you through your journey. Even the most accomplished will require assistance which is where Hillside Product Design’s expertise is invaluable. We work closely with all our clients to ensure they have all the support they need throughout the product development process.