Episode 4 Made in Northern Ireland

This wee country of ours has been at the forefront of some of the world's

most ground-breaking innovations -

the pneumatic tyre, the ejector seat,

the portable defibrillator and even milk of magnesia were all made

in Northern Ireland.

But that was then, and this is now.

We've a whole new breed of entrepreneurs

from all over Northern Ireland,

in fields in Fermanagh, sheds in Newtownards and workshops in Lurgan.

In this series, we hope to showcase some of the best business minds in

Northern Ireland. Now, do they have what it takes to change the world?

Each week, I'm going to travel

the length and breadth of the country, meeting them.

Good to see you.

£10 for a selfie, love.

'And learning more about their creations.'

I feel like I'm swaying back and forwards, but I'm not.

I know exactly what's going to be happening at home,

there will be one person sitting on the sofa loving an idea, and someone

else, "It's never going to work."

So we're going to actually bring in

a people's panel every week to do just that.

Ordinary people, looking at these new creations in Northern Ireland

and trying to work out whether they like them or not.

Can you remember what you were doing when you were 16 years of age?

I was working in a petrol station, actually.

This next guy, Stephen Henderson, he's light years ahead

of where I was.

He's exporting across Europe. Can you believe that?

He's come up with an addition to the cajon.

Apparently it's some type of drum.

He's doing all right as well.

I've come to Stephen's workshop in

Kilkeel to see this customised cajon

in action with local band, Cavalier.

The cajon is a 19th-century box drum originating in Peru,

but Stephen's light-bulb moment was

to add a kick pedal to the traditional instrument,

and almost five years on,

his company, Ruach, are making these drums here, by hand,

for worldwide export.

You look very young to be an entrepreneur.

-How old are you?

-I'm 21 years old.

-And what have you created?

-I've created a drum kit in a box.

I've went ahead and implemented a kick pedal,

allowing users really to become more creative with their playing.

Why couldn't I put four bits of wood together and it's a box?

Well, this one actually here is one of our new models.

It is called the street cajon.

Really more suited for outdoor use, so as out here we can actually

hear the bass resonate more,

whereas this front-facing power port gives it that extra

drive of a bass forward

and allows the front face to really resonate more as well.

So it's much more than a box?

Yeah, it is much more than a box, yeah.

How did you get the idea?

I went around my friend's house for a jamming session, and he told me

he had this new drum.

So I walked into his room expecting to see this big,

shiny new kit, but instead I found this box in the corner,

and I couldn't believe the sound it produced.

So I went home, and I really, really wanted to buy one,

but I had only £60 to my name.

And I decide then to go into my local hardware store,

purchase the materials I needed to manufacture one,

and it actually sounded better than my friend's model.

And so I had material left

to build another five and decided to advertise those online, but very,

very quickly after I launched those first five online, guys were coming,

asking me to introduce this bass pedal on the inside.

If two or three guys independently are coming to me asking me for this

feature and me to introduce this, and nobody in the market's doing it,

there's obviously an opportunity there.

So I persevered and the rest is history.

# Just follow me down, yeah... #

So you sit on it and operate it with your heel.

So that leaves your hands free.

Yeah, it means you can introduce

more fills, be more creative and it truly is, then,

a drum kit in a box.

-Created here in Kilkeel.

-Created here in Kilkeel.

Stephen, you still live with your

-mum and dad...

-I do, yeah.

-..so you're living in your bedroom.

-Yeah.

-And from a kid in his bedroom, a little garage here,

this contraption is being sold around the world, right?

It is, yeah. We're exporting to America, Canada, Germany, France.

I think that's fantastic.

-Yeah.

-There's just something about, we talk young people down

in this country, and we say, "Wasters," and all,

"they'll be out getting drunk and they'll be doing this

"and doing that and sleeping in their bed all day."

We don't hear these type of stories too often.

No, I know it. It's good.

We actually shipped out, just before you arrived, three units to America,

Canada and then also France,

and they were sold just the previous night.

With his drums selling for £80 to £280 a pop,

Stephen reckons his business is booming,

but do you have the cojones to want to get out there and do the same?

-I think that's good.

-Yeah.

-I like that.

-I agree, it is good.

He could go crazy with, like, the designs.

In South Africa there is bongo drums and the way they paint them,

they are all colourful.

Some of them are hippie and some of them are Rasta colours.

He could go crazy with the design.

I think it's a great idea.

I wouldn't know too much about the music world,

but if people are willing to buy those

and they are a local product as well...

I have seen one of those with a pedal on it.

I'm not sure he's creating something that's not already there.

Or maybe the people put the pedal on their own,

and he's just making them available to sell.

I think it is fantastic that he is

so young and so enthusiastic about it.

Made in South Armagh, Cullyhanna,

Siofra Caherty was inspired by her time in California,

but she didn't stay there, you see,

because part of what gets her up in the morning is Northern Ireland.

She loves this place and, therefore,

she wants to run her business from here.

Let's see what she has come up with.

My name is Siofra Caherty

and I'm from County Armagh and today I'm telling you

about my brand, Jump The Hedges.

What Siofra has actually come up with

is a new type of bag so that it can

carry a yoga mat, vertically, outside the bag itself,

and it therefore leaves the space inside the bag free

and keeps innocent bystanders out of harm's way.

I have to confess I'm more into

yoghurts than yoga, so it is an idea I'm not too familiar with!

But when Siofra decided to move back home to Northern Ireland,

she quit her job as a product designer with Adidas

to go all-in on her current business idea,

so I do hope she can help enlighten me.

Now, Siofra, I know you might think I'm a fine specimen of a man.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too, Stephen.

-Are we going to do a bit of yoga?

-We are.

Maybe we'll start off with a few more simple moves, will we, Stephen?

This is called the Hulk. Right.

So you stand with your feet,

the width of your mat down on your knees.

I'm not squatting.

And just tighten everything up.

Tighten everything up and look fierce.

Yeah, good man. That's the job.

Squatting!

Are you visiting?

Look, the tourists are papping me.

Paparazzi!

£10 for a selfie, love!

They can see the yogi in you.

This one's the Champion. Arms up.

Tighten that pelvic floor.

Pelvic floor, what's that, your bum?

-Near your bum!

-Is that near your coccyx?

-That locality.

-Tightening my coccyx!

-That's the job!

-Lovely.

Lovely. OK, and that's yoga, is it?

I'm not convinced about all of this.

I need a lie down!

So what's your idea, Siofra?

So I was living in San Francisco,

I was working as a designer a couple of years ago,

and I started doing yoga

and I noticed it was really difficult to carry

my yoga mat to class.

Because other bags are not tall enough to carry them,

is that it, or what?

Not tall enough and also they carry the mat in a horizontal way, and you

potentially hit people, so, like,

I've knocked cups of coffee out of people's hands.

All this kind of embarrassing stuff.

And I thought there had to be a better way, so that's why I felt

so impassioned to leave my job in

Adidas because I felt like this is such a good idea.

I need to do this now before

someone else jumps in there before me.

Explain the design for me, then.

It is quite a simple roll-top technique,

what you'd see like in sailing equipment.

That keeps the mat securely in place at the top,

and then there's a lower base pocket.

The bag is ultrasonically welded so that

it's totally waterproof as well.

They are made in a small factory in Antrim.

-In Antrim?

-So you're keeping the manufacturing here.

Keeping it local.

Working for the bigger companies, everything is made in China,

and it's very soul destroying and depressing

just e-mailing China every day.

That's why I came home, was to try to make something here.

It is a big thing, Siofra, to leave a job

in the likes of a company like Adidas.

But the yoga industry is worth 80 billion,

and I want to be part of that, so why not?

How much would it be?

It retails at £125 sterling.

That is quite expensive for a bag, isn't it?

It depends how you look at it.

If you're going to buy a Nike or Adidas bag,

which a million other people have,

you're talking maybe £60 sterling.

When you look at it like that, you're only a handful of people that

have the bags, and they're totally unique to the market.

This is made from recycled

banner material that I got from Antrim Council.

It's eco-friendly, it's sustainable

and it's a very durable fabric.

You know your stuff, don't you?

-A wee bit, yeah.

-Good luck with it.

Thanks very much. Apologies, Stephen,

but those yoga moves I was making you do earlier,

they were completely nonsense!

So don't let that put you off going to a yoga class.

-That wasn't yoga?

-No, that wasn't real yoga.

I'm sorry, Stephen, we were just having a bit of craic!

So you got me to do all that and that was not yoga?

-That wasn't yoga.

-Stuff your product up your...

Ah, you'll be all right!

I never knew that yoga practitioners were so attached to their mat!

THEY LAUGH

-Would you buy it?

-It is quite practical, isn't it?

It is good thinking, it is good logic,

like, carrying it in a normal backpack,

it goes sideways, you can knock into people.

It makes sense that you kind of want to keep it...

Once you get the volumes, you need to get them done really cheaply.

I just think £125 is just really

going to put a lot of people out of the market.

You could make loads of bags out of flags or something like that!

Flags or flegs? That's a very good idea.

Choose your bag to correspond with with your flag.

I think she should sell the idea to

a big company and then she should look

at a follow-on product, maybe a bag for carrying your hula-hoop!

THEY LAUGH

Our next idea, well, it is really, really important.

I admire this guy because he's

trying to change the world for the better,

and he's targeting children and trying to improve their lives.

Have a look at this. It's clever.

My name is Vincent Connolly.

I'm the co-founder of Take Ten Limited,

developed to de-mystify and simplify the process of managing stress.

MUSIC: Take Five by Paul Desmond

The Take Ten philosophy is that a calm mind and body will be the most

receptive to learning, and at schools up and down the country,

they're putting these principles into practice.

Boys and girls, who can put their hand up and tell me what's next

in our timetable for today?

-Take Ten.

-Excellent, We're going to do little bit of Take Ten.

Take Ten will be a really vital part of our day in primary three.

We start every morning with Take Ten,

we end most afternoons with Take Ten.

It gives the children a chance to use their imagination

and control their emotions, recognise emotions and helps

them to settle themselves for the day ahead of them.

Take Ten encourages children to concentrate on their breathing

and through short, meditative exercises,

seeks to help them maintain a relaxed state of mind

throughout the school day.

But Take Ten has developed a product that they claim can monitor stress

levels and induce calmness.

So I'm off to the E3 building at Belfast Met

to meet with company founder Fintan Connolly,

and with the day I've had, this better work for adults, too.

I'm genuinely so stressed today.

The BBC's done my head in.

HE SIGHS

And now I'm going to meet a man who's going to measure my stress.

-Hello there.

-Stephen, how are you?

Nice to see you. Good to see you. So what have you created?

What we have here is an app to teach you how to manage stress

-and anxiety.

-I am stressed to the hilt today.

Seriously stressed to the hilt today.

-So let's see what this can do.

-Let's have a look.

I'm going to clip this onto your earlobe.

It's going to take your pulse and then it's going to convert your pulse to heart rhythms.

That's going to give you a very good indication of how you're feeling.

So it's your heart rhythms that give you an indication, rather...

-Heart rhythms.

-..than your normal pulse rate?

The time between each successive heartbeat,

that's a very good indicator of how well you deal with stress.

It's also a very good indicator of your emotions.

You can see at the minute, you've gone straight into the red zone.

That means that your heart rhythms are very erratic,

-which means that you're...

-I'm dead.

-..feeling under pressure.

Well, we can call an ambulance in a minute, once we get you

-through this first bit, OK?

-OK.

Now, do you see what happened the moment I said to you,

"We can call an ambulance"?

-Do you see how your heart rate surged?

-Yes.

-Do you see that?

-Do you see how quickly your body responded to the mention of an ambulance?

What I want you to do is focus on your breathing and what you're

going to do is change your breathing pattern to slow everything right down.

-I'm going to close my eyes when I do this, because I'll just relax.

-OK.

And just focus on your breath, slowly and gently.

And what will happen is, as you start to change

your breathing patterns, you start to change your heart rhythm

patterns, and straight away, we're starting to move into that green zone.

Everything was starting to light up green.

What we're trying to do is to get the heart,

lungs and brain all lighting up in the green zone,

because what that means is that physiologically, you're nice

and calm, but also means cognitively, you're more aware.

For me, simply focusing on my breathing

has had an immediate impact and Take Ten have developed

a number of games based around this principle.

These games will only work whenever the child is calm.

So, for example, if I put you on what's called the Jungle Game,

what you'll see, first of all, is a jungle scene.

In order for us to get to the animals to come out of the jungle,

you need to be in the right zone.

So this picture will respond to what's going on in your body.

In order for anything to happen, you need to be calm and focused.

So what we're doing is teaching kids self-management,

self-control and focus, and patience as well.

Take Ten keeps me calm, and when I'm cross,

I will go and think of Take Ten and go to my safe place.

If you can be teaching at such a young age

how to control themselves, if they so desire,

calm themselves down, that's extraordinary.

You've got kids arriving into school who are worried

about what was happening at home. Maybe there's family breakdown,

maybe there's substance abuse at home or domestic abuse.

Maybe those kids are worried about learning,

maybe they're worried about bullying.

So those kids are arriving into school

emotionally and physiologically in an unsettled state.

So if we can teach them at that state,

first thing in the morning to get into the zone,

it means that, cognitively, they're more aware,

and they learn more effectively,

so they're ready to learn, physiologically and emotionally.

How many schools is this in, in Northern Ireland?

In Northern Ireland, nearly 100 schools, in Northern Ireland.

-That's good.

-It is good.

We were on the Invest NI Tech Mission to Silicon Valley.

The Americans were really impressed.

They said they hadn't seen anything like it in their education system

and we hope to do some pilot studies in 2017.

What's your dream? Do you think this could be used

-throughout the world, or is that going too far?

-Our dream

and our mission is to get it in every school,

every workplace, and maybe every phone.

-Good luck with it.

-Thank you.

The name of it, Take Ten, it's very appealing, isn't it?

I think some people will use it.

So many parents right now just give their kids, you know,

a... What do you call this? Nintendo games for travelling

and things like that, so kids are, you know, always on screens.

My concern is that you are giving them more screens

to help and the whole thing should be about getting up off your chair

and going outside.

They're becoming very dependant on screens and it's worrying, actually.

I'd much prefer the idea of teaching children

how to deal with stress.

Pouring a gin and tonic's a good way of getting rid of stress!

"You look at that screen while I pour a gin and tonic."

We admire the entrepreneurs who will be in this series so much because

they've taken the time, they've had the patience and the resilience

to turn their thought into something that is going to be sold,

not just in Northern Ireland, but throughout the world.

Having said that, how much time does it take

someone who's a wacky, mad entrepreneur like our man,

Paddy Bloomer, and how much time did it take him to come up with this?

# Ha-ha-ha, madman blues!

# I got home last night, about nine o'clock

# I had the madman blues... #

Everyone likes a tandem,

and people have very romantic notions about tandem bicycles.

Now, it only takes you to have a very small amount

of tandeming experience to realise that the face to bum proximity

can be a very unromantic experience.

Flatulence and the tandem bicycle are incompatible.

So I took a look at the tandem and did a bit of a reshuffle

and managed to come up with this.

It is a semi-recumbent tandem.

With this bicycle, romance is once again possible,

now that we've alleviated the... you know, the farting problem!

It's several different bicycles cobbled together beyond recognition.

So, the BMX fork at the front,

you're steering from an upright position and you've got

a quite a good view over the stoker's head.

And flatulence - sure, you'd hardly even notice!

# Summer breeze

# Makes me feel fine

# Blowing through the jasmine in my mind... #

We are doing our very best to travel right throughout Northern Ireland

and bring you some of the new ideas that budding entrepreneurs

are coming up with,

but once a week, we also want to focus on an established business.

Now, you'll have heard of McLaren, Lotus, Ferrari,

but have you heard of Crossle Cars?

Established 60 years ago, they are respected throughout the world.

Made in Holywood, County Down, and driven by major Hollywood stars.

These cars are built for a specific purpose.

They don't have air conditioning or leather seats

or all the other baggage that weighs down road cars.

Racing cars are built for one specific purpose -

and that's to win races. So, they're very light.

There is no comfort of any kind and, because they are so light,

even a modest amount of power is enough to put them round

the circuit at some speed.

ENGINES ROAR

Exciting doesn't begin to describe it.

The adrenaline rush that you get between the lights coming on

at the start of a race and the completion of the first lap,

has to be experienced to be believed.

The Crossle Car Company claim to be the world's longest-established

constructor of racing cars and, though Crossle enthusiast

Paul McMorran took control in 2012,

he has kept true to the ethos of the company founder, John Crossle.

They export across the globe and all Crossle cars are still manufactured

here, by hand, in the very same building

they started out from, back in 1957.

The factory that we have here, it is unique in the world.

This is the only racing car manufacturer from the 1960s,

from the heady days of Ferrari and Lotus and many other famous names,

to be still in business and, certainly, to be still operating

from the original factory. So, that is unique.

We are passing on skills that used to be very common

in Northern Ireland. Welding and constructing things with your hands

was what we were good at in the days of the Titanic and since,

but those skills are not as fashionable as they used to be.

We are in the business of conserving those and trying to build them

and carry them forward into the next generation.

It is an international brand.

Crossle is well-known among the racing fraternity,

but the general public, for the most part, haven't heard of it.

Then, you have film stars, people like Tom Cruise have driven them

and others. I think Stallone was filmed in one, one time,

and Nigel Mansell won his first major championship in a Crossle 32F.

Eddie Irvine started his career in a Crossle and there are many others.

My plan is to rejuvenate the company and to grow it

and to make it a force, in the way that it has been in the past.

For me, it is a responsibility, as well as an opportunity,

to keep that heritage going.

I know when you look at me on television,

you can see the amount of time and effort

I put into my personal appearance.

Suits that don't quite go over the belly.

The skin well-shaved and the hair well-groomed,

I really do make an effort.

This mother of two, Emma Walsh, has come up with a novel idea,

for those of you who, unlike me, don't have time for grooming.

Emma worked full-time as a hairdresser for 20 years,

but when her two children were born, she soon found working in the salon

left little time for family life.

So, just last year, she gave her old job the chop

to chase a dream that might just give her the flexibility she needs,

but still doing the job she has always loved.

And if all goes to plan, she can, hopefully, make things

more convenient for the rest of us, as well.

-Emma, cut all the white hair out!

-I will do my very best, Stephen.

I can't believe how grey I... I wasn't grey

before I went into the BBC. Those suits at the top of the BBC,

all the worry they give me.

-All the stress.

-Unbelievable.

Honestly. All they do is, "Stephen, can you do this?

"Stephen, we have a problem with..."

-It drives me insane.

-It is not fair.

What an idea. I have never seen this before.

-Where did it come from, this idea?

-I am a mum of two kids.

They are young, four and five, and I guess I wanted to be a bit

more available, as a parent. I love travel. I love festivals.

Just love meeting people. So, the idea of popping up

in different areas, I guess, sounded good to me.

I started thinking, what could I do that didn't have me tied down

-to a shop?

-I want a wee purple tint, by the way.

-Purple? Not pink?

-No. Yes, pink is my favourite colour.

-A wee pink tint.

-We'll go pink.

I started researching and seen a couple of guys had done it

-over in America.

-Yeah.

Someone over in England, they had used a transit van.

I had sort of thought, something a little bit bigger.

And then, of course, you need to make it happen.

-So, you need to buy a van.

-Mm-hm.

-It must be expensive?

Yes, it was expensive. This was a school library bus.

So, yes, it was very different when we bought it.

Who did it all up for you?

-My partner is a very talented carpenter.

-Right.

So...I was very lucky.

Emma and her partner spent an entire summer, and all their life savings,

turning this school library bus into the barbering beauty it is today.

But building a base of loyal customers is vital

to the success of any business and I wanted to find out how Emma

hopes to achieve this, when her saloon is constantly on the move.

I have set locations. They are all featured on my website

and I go back to these locations once a week.

I cater for weddings, different functions, corporate events.

I have been in business parks.

So you're meeting a wide range of people.

So would you be interested in trying to expand this and having buses

-throughout Northern Ireland?

-A fleet of buses?

-Aye.

The dream is, yes, a fleet would be nice.

But, yes, I'm starting small and dreaming big.

How is it working out for a working mum?

Busy. Not as much time as I thought I would have, initially.

I have two girls. Great girls. Very supportive of Mummy

and her new business. So, yeah, it is a juggling act.

Definitely a juggling act. It is hard work, but enjoyable.

-Is it scary?

-Terrifying.

Being a mum and starting a new business,

you've got the hallmarking inside of it.

You've got to build the business. There is a lot...

There is a lot to do. So yeah, it is...it is slightly overwhelming

at times.

-I think you're lovely.

-Ha-ha!

-I really, really do.

-I wish you all the best.

-Thank you very much.

I know what you're all thinking at home, now I've got my haircut.

You really think I'm sexy, don't you? I know it.

You look like Louis Walsh.

-I do know people that use that hair bus.

-She is just lovely.

She is a quintessential hairdresser. She chats endlessly and that was my

-first job ever, a hairdresser.

-I could actually see you...

Outside work hours, I would pile everything on the back of my bike

and cycle to someone's house, to do their hair.

So, this is brilliant.

-She is not paying anyone rent.

-But she will have paid for that,

or be paying back for it.

But, like, you pay for the van and then you're finished.

It's like, you're finished and you own it,

whereas rent, you're constantly paying out.

-Yeah.

-And think of the tourists, as well, walking around

and thinking, "I might as well get my hair washed."

That's true. You're more inclined to walk into that, as a tourist,

-Absolutely.

-..than you are to go into a salon and ask for an appointment.

I would go to her, to do my hair.

If you think about it, on tonight's programme we have had an idea

from a young man about a drum, to a mum who wanted more flexibility

around her children, so she designed a business to help her achieve that.

Now, what do you want to achieve?

And what's your idea? Because my message to you -

you ARE good enough. Don't think you're not.

If your idea is good enough, then you CAN make it.

So, make it in Northern Ireland.

And make it soon.