Borders inventor seeks backing to lift curtain hooks
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Donald Reid, a former offshore worker and boat-builder, is the brainchild of Easy Hang Hooks, which can be hung with the help of a broom handle or similar pole, so users do not need to climb up and down ladders.
• READ MORE: Ten surprising Scottish inventions
“I’ve always tinkered about coming up with ideas, but I’ve never really had the money to get them up and running,” said Reid, who launched the business in February last year.
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Hide Ad“You don’t have to climb up and down stepladders to hang the curtains, and all you need is a pole or broom handle.”
He added: “Everybody seems to like these hooks because they’re the simplest things I could possibly think of – they don’t need electronics or components brought together from various different countries, and they can all be made on the one machine down here in Selkirk.”
Peebles-based Reid told The Scotsman that his hooks have attracted praise from Kane Kramer, the British inventor who created the forerunner to Apple’s iPod three decades ago, and he received a good response at a recent trade show in Coventry.
He added: “I’d like to find a business partner and investor who has the knowledge and route to market. There are people out there, but it’s a case of getting to them. There’s great potential for this.”
Reid has generated sales via online retailer Amazon for his hooks, which have patent pending status, but said access to funding for patent and marketing costs was proving a major hurdle.
“If you’ve got the money and you’re up and running to a certain extent, you can always get more money, but the problem seems to be getting to that stage,” he said.
“In a day and age when people are wanting new innovations to get the country and running, why is it so hard? I know quite a few people in my situation and they’re not getting anywhere. There’s loads of people out there doing things that could make a big difference to life.”