Inventor, entrepreneur and underwater escape artist

Inventor Trevor Baylis talks exclusively to topenterprise about starting in business, inventing and his vision for the future

06 07 2004 United Kingdom

Starting in business

Trevor Baylis is known and respected around the world as the inventor of the wind-up radio and for his work to help AIDS victims in Africa. He has also been running his own company, Shotline Steel Swimming Pools, for over 30 years.

What few know is how his talents as a swimmer and stunt man helped him to start up in business in the first place.

As a teenager, Trevor Baylis was a very talented swimmer and he went on to represent Great Britain. After studying engineering he continued competitive swimming in the Army, where he was a physical training instructor.

In 1970 Trevor travelled to Berlin as a stunt man in a circus, with an underwater escape as part of his act. With the ‘danger money’ he earned, he bought a plot of land on an island in the Thames at Twickenham, built a house himself and started up his swimming pools business.

Trevor still builds stainless steel swimming pools to his own innovative design, and has installed nearly 300 for schools across the UK.

The story of the wind-up radio

In the early 1990s he had the idea for his breakthrough invention. After four years and many frustrations, he finally gained recognition for the wind-up radio and established production in a factory in South Africa.

But it was a long battle to get there. The initial responses to his ideas from the big institutions were very discouraging. “Nobody could possibly get that to work.” “It will need a one hundredweight spring”, was one ill-informed reply. Everyone talked down to the ‘little man’, remembers Trevor.

Trevor saw that access to radio broadcasts from around the world would have an immense impact on the lives of people who inhabit remote villages or could not afford batteries. He persevered and on a visit to South Africa he was acclaimed by Nelson Mandella for his achievements.

Our conversation turned to another brick wall encountered by inventors and people starting up in business – the bank manager who decides that their ideas will never work. Trevor recalled a meeting with his own bank manager, who said to him, “I am really worried about your overdraft, Mr Baylis.”

“I’m glad you are,” Trevor replied, “because there’s no point in both of us getting worried about it!”

Getting a new deal for UK inventors

Bringing a new invention to market requires a good product, the strictest secrecy, legal resources, a sound, commercial approach. . . . and that is just the start. “None of us has all the skills we need to bring a new product to market,” says Trevor.

One of the first steps is obtaining a patent, a complicated and expensive process. The Yorkshireman credited with developing cats-eyes for roads did not take out a patent and earned very little at all from his famous invention.

“You can get a UK patent for £2,000 or so,” says Trevor, “but a worldwide patent will come to £50,000 or more. What you actually get after spending all that money is just a piece of paper, not a product that is ready for market.”

Lobbying for a better deal for inventors is one of Trevor’s main campaigns, with a simplified, universal system for protecting their inventions. Too many great ideas get copied so that their originators fail to get rewarded.

Recently he has set up ‘Trevor Baylis Brands’, a commercial venture to support inventors, helping them to protect and develop their ideas and bring them to market successfully.

Trevor Baylis Brands – or ‘TBB’ - offers an inventor pack available from the website and brings together all the skills needed. At the last count, TBB is assisting 60 people to build their ideas into successful products, from easy-to-fit toilet seats and household gadgets, to an innovative ultrasonic generator.

You can learn more about this new venture on the Trevor Baylis Brands website - www.baylisbrands.com (page opens in a new window)

What next?

Trevor told us that he is not planning to retire quietly to an allotment just yet. He leads a very active life running his swimming pools business, making TV appearances, giving interviews and pursuing new inventions. One of his latest developments is self-weighing luggage, which does away with the need for weighing scales.

But pursuing his commercial interests is not his sole preoccupation. “I don’t want to be the richest man in the graveyard,” he told us! He is still a keen swimmer and has one of his own pools installed in his house at Twickenham. He also takes great pride in the E-type Jag that he owns.

Above all, Trevor is a very resilient campaigner for worthwhile causes. He is passionate about helping inventors to receive their reward and encouraging the next generation of inventors as well. One of his ambitions is to see Inventing as part of the national curriculum for our schools.

Tre vor Baylis is a gifted and determined innovator, who has made possible a revolution in radio communication. His many contributions will certainly live on.

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