Award win is ‘Swell’ for Rooney-backed company
SWELLAWAY, backed by Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney, and which aims to revolutionise injury prevention and rehabilitation landed the NW Business Masters Innovation Award.
Helped by a £0.5m stake from Rooney, the Cheshire-based company launched in 2013 has attracted a further influx of £1m to develop its products in the human and equine market.
Invented by Richard Mills, Swellaway is a patented self-treatment device which applies cold, heat and compression to human and animal joints and muscles in one portable electronic wireless software based device.
It offers the patient convenience, controllability and the ability to self monitor.
Receiving the trophy from award sponsor NCC Group’s Kate Lewis, at the ceremony at Manchester’s Midland Hotel, Mills said: “A couple of years ago we were lucky enough to get Wayne Rooney as our primary investor.
“He’s a great lad and we’re fortunate enough to be based in the North West and gaining a lot of support from athletes and footballers.
“We’re now developing a product for equine at the moment, working with a number of vets and we have got some investors in the room tonight.
“Horses have exactly the same problem with their legs as humans, so it is a huge market for us. In the next 12 months we will get into the equine market and the human pro sports market.”
The shortlist for the award also included Avecto, CTI Corporate Travel International and Trafford Park-based VUE CCTV.
Swellaway’s success has been mirrored by fledgling sports nutrition company The Protein Works, based in Runcorn, which won the NW Business Masters Newcomer Award.
It has grown in less than a year to become recognised as Europe’s most innovative sports nutrition brand.
Co-founder Karl Jacobie said the company founded two years ago when he and Mark Coxhead, Nick Smith mortgaged their houses and had to “beg, steal and borrow” to launch with £5,000. But the company enjoyed a £6m turnover last year and was on course to hit £10m this year.
“We feel fantastic,” he said. “We learned that to be successful you need three things. You need good staff, great customers and you really have to be passionate about the business that you do. We have got all three of those things.
“Now we want to conquer Europe and we are moving into Germany and France.”
Also on the Newcomer shortlist were Handrail Creations, mmadigital and Storelectric.
