Skipper powers up production of UK-made Unibank

Star performer Unibank (from £96.45), which can be recharged via a retractable pull cord mechanism or a USB, comes with a host of phone app-controlled attachments. These include a light, a panic alarm with an emergency text configuration, a Bluetooth speaker and a laser measuring tool. The free app also has the capacity to change languages.

This summer Skipper will add to the brand’s pulling power with a sound and vision device. Enabling projections from a phone or tablet, the new Unibank attachment will also cover anything business and leisure related from a PowerPoint presentation to safety signs or an emoji.

“It like a Swiss Army knife, the go-to product for those who want to stay connected and especially for those in higher risk environments or the elderly,” declares Skipper owner Alan Bentley, a design and marketing expert turned entrepreneur who seized first the opportunities arising from the dotcom boom and now the shift to 5G.

Today a maker of own-designed and patented workplace health and safety products in its own 20,000sq ft factory, the Cheshire-based company has gone from strength to strength since launching in 2004 with its first innovation, the Helix Road Cone which reduces the need to double stack and the numbers used on roads and industrial sites. 

That paved the way for Skipper’s international business now in 35 countries accounting for more than 70 per cent of current output. 

With a range of 24 different products, its markets cover retail, leisure, mining, councils, logistics, petrochemical and utilities. 

Unibank’s growth, plus a new Skipper multi-cart also due this year, are increasing turnover prospects. 

Currently that’s £3.5millon which is expected to rise to over £8million in 2025 and the workforce to increase to 28.

“Working on a 55-58 per cent net profit margin we will be able to move into more territories,” says Bentley. “Last year we picked up more than 18 new distributors, including a new one in Japan.”

The award-winning Unibank, which weighs in at 0.6kg and fits in a pocket or on a belt, took five years to develop. 

Charging it up, a smart generation mix of pull and recoil mechanisms, takes 90 seconds and provides 25 minutes of talk time.

“We create light, sound and safety,” says Bentley. “Users can cut electricity consumption and our app display has an easy-to-understand interface. Overall the Unibank is simple, reliable, clean and efficient. Yet we were often dismissed at first by renewable energy experts, but now that’s changing.”  

At the core of this tale of two powerhouses however is what he describes as “modular connectivity”, explaining: “it’s our DNA, designing everything to connect with multiple attachments, creating sustainable functionality and self-reliance. It’s a catalyst for an ever-expanding product portfolio.

“We create our own tooling, and components like injection mouldings, cord, metal spindles and ferrules are made and assembled here in Cheshire. We don’t cut corners and up to 25 per cent of our profit a year goes into R&D.”

New operations sites are planned for Europe and the US and as Unibank targets the wilderness travel market Bentley is eyeing collaborations with airport retail distributors.

And he has no doubt that one of the best aspects of Skipper is its team. “Over the years we have grown into a family and there is genuine desire from all to do well for the products, the brand and each other. We are resilient and determined to succeed.”

So woe betide copiers and counterfeiters for whom Skipper is inevitably catnip. But having fought many costly imitation rip-off battles, Bentley has this advice for other pioneering start-ups: “Keep your IP very guarded until you are ready to launch.”