Innovation lights the way to a new business

A general practitioner reckons he probably has Saddam Hussein to thank for the invention and subsequent commercialisation of an alternative to the traditional mirror with a hole in it worn on the forehead by doctors. Dr Vijay Reddy, who resides in Stoke on Trent, qualified as an ear, nose and throat surgeon and previously ran a prosperous practice in Kuwait. One day, for reasons we are all well aware of, he suddenly found himself in the UK and was soon working in a deprived inner city area. This might be sufficient to occupy most people but Dr Reddy found himself wondering how best to improve the facilities in his surgery. “The Reddylite started out as a hobby, my golf relaxation if you like,” he says. It is, however, a hobby that has given rise to a manufacturing business that, to date, has shipped some 15,000 units. Each unit comprises a small, flat electric torch with a flip-over swivel lamp holder equipped with a head band. When not in use, the lamp holder is simply flipped back into the vertical and the whole unit dropped in the pocket. The torch, originally covered by Eureka in August 1999, still sells well in its original form. It is powered by two AA batteries and uses a 6,000 candle power Xenon lamp. It is manufactured from ‘Xenoy’, a polycarbonate/PBT blend made by GE Plastics. Thanks to the money With an initial investment of what he remembers to be about £100, Dr Reddy started his business in 1994, supported only by practice manager Cathy McMain in her spare time. But a leaflet mailed by the Staffordshire Business Innovation Centre prompted an application for one of its ‘Pristine’ awards, which resulted in an award of £6,000. This underwrote the production of a colour brochure and the design of a website, and GVR Products began to take off. The basic torch is made by an American company, Pelican Products, based in Torrance, California, with Dr Reddy designing and making the attachments which turn it into a medical instrument. In doing so, he takes responsibility for all medical and CE approvals. He has already developed a higher performance ‘Reddylite 2’ which has an 8,000 candlepower lamp and the capability to produce a wide beam as well as a narrow one. And accessories for a pen light version include a locally manufactured flexible, disposable light guide, to assist in the removal of wax and foreign bodies from ears, and Otoscope and Endoscope attachments. The next challenge, according to Dr Reddy, is to incorporate LED light sources because he believes that users of lighting equipment will increasingly expect not to have to replace bulbs, an obvious advantage when used in the less developed areas of the world. While his products incorporate what he considers to be an adequate profit margin, Dr Reddy sells them at prices that are not only affordable by NHS-funded GPs but also by medical practitioners in Third World countries. His basic Reddylite 1, for example, sells for £27.99 including p&p in the UK, and his disposable ear probes at £12.50 for a box of 50. Not surprisingly, he is already receiving orders from veterinary surgeons and even from fishermen. And, following publication of this article, he can expect to start receiving enquiries from engineers too! (More information is available on the web at Reddylite, Peli, Pelican, )