Lenny Waters and Karl Ormond, who work in the building industry, founded the company and invented the novel technology. Peter Broxton has a background in footcare and experience of bringing medical products to market. Peter is one of the shareholders and acts as Managing Director. The PelliTec blister prevention pad was developed with a USA company between 2016 and 2019 and is produced and packaged in China. The PelliTec pad was launched in 2019 and is the only product of the worldwide market which sticks to the inside of footwear and cushions to prevent blisters. The six-layer structure of the pad, which includes a gel core, moves with the foot to reduce the friction which causes blisters. PelliTec has been trialled with athletes, walkers, soldiers, and the general public and has received very positive results.
Customers also include podiatrists who use the pads to prevent foot problems in patients with medical conditions such as diabetes. The podiatrists suggested that what they really needed was an insole to reduce friction in the toe and heel areas. The company needed expertise and the “DIT (Department of International Trade) recommended the AWRC who liked the product, understood the science and had the equipment to develop the insole.”
AWRC presented their proposal in autumn 2020, “which was exactly what we wanted”. Peter said they were really inclusive, taking the company through the protocol and showing them the equipment. However, due to COVID-19 and the various lockdowns, the timetable was pushed back because the labs had to be closed. When the labs became available “we began to see the progress which meant that, by mid 2021, the AWRC team were able to take it from a 4 out of 10 prototype we presented to them to a 9+ out of 10 pre commercial product.” John Hart is a mechanical engineer, who works at Sheffield Hallam University and was partnered with PelliTec as part of the AWRC Accelerator programme. He reflected on the process:
“So we have gone from this initial concept, all the way through gathering the information, the ideation, where we’re creating our ideas, and honing our design, to the full prototyping, testing and evaluation. And now PelliTec are at a stage where they’ve got a CAD file where they could take that to a tool maker and go OK, make me a mould.”
Conversations on the development included a podiatrist involved in the NHS who is aware of how this insole could benefit patients. The company also had mentoring to identify further funding options, create the right look, estimate costings and advice on how to access procurement within the NHS.
Peter was also impressed that they were able to develop the concept for the PelliTec insole on a virtual basis during the pandemic. “It is about 9.5 out of 10 at the moment so there is a little further to go to move it to 10”. The PelliTec team have recently had chance to visit the AWRC for a tour of the facilities and meet the AWRC team in person.
“We have a distributor in the UK who is the largest supplier of insoles to the NHS. They were delighted with the product - wow, this is exactly what we want.”
They suggested a few minor adjustments, which are easy to incorporate, and when the final changes are made and the product is ready for commercialisation.
When asked where they would have been without the Accelerator project, Peter said “my instinctive answer would certainly be not here at this timescale. We would have needed to find someone with the expertise,
equipment and passion to carry the project forward.”
