Mark Bridge: not him, the other one
Get social
  • Home
  • Writing
  • Photo and video
  • Music and podcasting
  • Social networking
  • Showcase

Design Specific

1/1/2016

0 Comments

 
Richard Fletcher and John Walters
On a small industrial estate at the edge of Ringmer is a company that proudly claims to produce the widest range of wheelchair platforms and recliners in the world. For example, they make a portable device that tilts a patient in a wheelchair, enabling that person to receive dental treatment without being transferred onto a dentist’s couch. And there are motorised chairs that’ll adjust to fit bariatric patients weighing over 50 stone, making it easier for medical staff to transfer and treat people on a single piece of equipment. It means undignified and potentially dangerous hoists can be confined to the past.
 
The company was born from a project at the University of Brighton. Richard Fletcher was leading the MSc Product Innovation and Design course when a London hospital asked for help designing a wheelchair recliner platform. Not only did Richard’s solution win an award, it led to the creation of his own business almost 16 years ago. He’s CEO of Design Specific Ltd, working with a dedicated staff of five who cover all technical aspects as well as marketing and support.
 
In its way, Design Specific is a very traditional firm. Every new product starts with a pencil-drawn sketch. Components are ordered from local suppliers where possible, with all assembly – including circuit boards – taking place on site. Yet the results are perfectly suited to 21st-century medicine. Instead of inconvenient cables and noisy motors, there are silky-smooth castors, rechargeable batteries and quiet hydraulic lifts. What’s most notable about the products is how attractive they are. “We like to make things that look good”, Richard explains. “You can have style as well as function.” Meanwhile John Walters, Design and International Marketing Manager, talks about a compliment he was paid at a European trade show. “The Germans said ‘It looks German’. That was high praise, as far as I was concerned.”
 
Last year, Design Specific won the coveted Award for Business Innovation during the Lewes District Business Awards. The company sells its products around the world, so why did it enter a local competition? “I don’t chase awards”, Richard tells us. “It was for everyone here. These guys work hard, they put a lot in. I wanted to give their efforts an airing.”
 
“Some people who look at our chairs wouldn't say that's innovation. I think it's innovation because it's a development of something that's never existed before in that form.”
 
And what’s planned for 2016? Richard points to the motorised ‘fifth wheel’ hidden underneath their latest bariatric conveyance chair. At the moment it’s ordered from Germany but will soon be replaced with a home-grown design. “They use cams; we'll be using linear drives. We’ve done a lot of sketches.”
 
Design Specific, Caburn Enterprise Park, The Broyle, Ringmer BN8 5NP
01273 813904

 
First published in Viva Lewes magazine issue 112 January 2016


0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Recent work

    Examples of my published work, with the most recent shown first. (Any links via Amazon may earn me commission on any purchases.) 

    Archives

    February 2020
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Comedy
    Interview
    Journalism
    Lewes
    Music
    Technology

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.