A designer of products such as clip-on boot covers and a rain-saving watering can is to bring them to market after securing £100,000.

A designer of products such as clip-on boot covers and a rain-saving watering can is to bring them to market after securing £100,000 in business angel investment.

Bristol-based Peter Manning raised £50,000 from private investor Richard Tyzack through Welsh business angel network Xenos, and an equal amount from Manning’s friend and garden centre owner Martin Davies. The investments were made under the Enterprise Investment Scheme.

Manning has formed a new company, 4Leaves, to bring three products to market. These include clip-on covers for wellington boots which are intended to make them easier to carry and keep out the rain, a collapsible water butt and a watering can which collects and stores rainwater.

Says Manning, ‘The idea for slimmed-down, easy-to-assemble products for the DIY and gardening sectors was something I’d been working on for some time, but I wanted to get these products to market under my own brand rather than via a licensing agreement.

‘Last November I needed to find an investor quickly, so I approached xénos and almost immediately [Tyzack] showed an interest.’

The wellington boot covers are already being manufactured and distributed and global orders are anticipated following trials of the product in the US, New Zealand and Australia.