Gardening is the UK’s undisputed number 1 hobby. There are nearly 23M gardens and 2.3M
allotments in the UK. Approximately 10.4% of garden retail spend goes on garden tools -
however, innovation is low and consumer tastes are changing in the types of product they are
looking for. With gardens ranging from large countryside acreage to terraced plots, demand
for trendy but functional, adaptable and innovative products is on the increase.
The current trend in modern housing is leading to more, smaller properties being built with
smaller gardens. Consequently, it’s becoming more difficult to store essential garden
equipment. We believe there is increasing market demand for more innovative, space-saving
gardening tools. The idea we’d like to investigate is a novel design of collapsible
wheelbarrow that addresses this need.
Our new design of gardener’s wheelbarrow will be capable of carrying loads of up to 35 kilos
(potentially more, subject to testing). Secondly, it will open out into a flat surface capable of
collecting gardening cuttings and will then snap shut when required into the form of a
wheelbarrow. Thirdly, for storage, it can be hung flat on a wall in its opened out form.
We’d like to investigate the UK gardening market, garden retailers and gardeners directly to
assess the potential market demand for our proposed new design of wheelbarrow and
consequently its commercial viability prior to progressing with Proof-of-Concept product
development.
If commercially viable, this will create a new UK-based product business whilst carving out a
new market niche in a garden equipment market worth over £4.9 billion.