Top-selling travel pillow Trtl gains support from screen stars

A Glasgow-based firm that has created what it calls a 'revolutionary' travel pillow expects to triple sales and cement its position in the US market this year after a bumper 2016.

David Kellock and Michael Corrigan with their Trtle travel pillow which is set to feature in the gift lounge at the Grammys tonight.

Trtl was created by Michael Corrigan and David Kellock in 2013 after they met while studying engineering at Strathclyde University and were inspired by a talk from Kwik Fit founder Sir Tom Farmer.

They came up with the idea in an airport and sales of the product rocketed to more than 140,000 last year after it featured on the Dragons’ Den television show, although the £65,000 that was originally offered for a 10 per cent stake was later withdrawn on a technicality.

The pillow is now on sale in more than 60 countries, including in China, Japan and Mexico, and in the US the company has opened a satellite office, signed a distribution deal and Trtl is the top-selling travel pillow.

It has also been included in the gift lounge at the Oscars – and received the thumbs up from actor Jamie Foxx – and is set to feature in the gift lounge at the Grammys tonight, kicking off a whistle-stop tour of five US cities for Corrigan.

He said: “The time is right. We have achieved a lot over the past 12 months but there’s more to do. We have a unique product and the market is vast. We had a great year in 2016 and 2017 is set to be Trtl’s best year yet.”