Ed Wray - our success story

The BarbeSkew

Ed was motivated to design the BarbeSkew because he was fed up with eating badly cooked barbecued food. BarbeSkew is a hands-free barbecue that cooks food to perfection by combining the traditional BBQ with features of a spit roast.

Ed used the Library extensively to help him find out if his idea was original, to learn more about intellectual property and find out about his market and competitors. He also used the Library's social science collections, which include a number of magazines that relate directly to barbecues.

From the British Library's website, Ed found that the Business & IP Centre was offering workshops on intellectual property:

"It was the perfect time for me to learn about patents, design rights and trade marks and how to use market research databases as well. The workshops are great value, and most of them are free."

Ed won the leisure category New Product of the Year Award 2007 at GLEE, an international garden and leisure trade fair. The BarbeSkew is now available from a number of leading retail stores world-wide, including Harrods. Ed is still using the Business & IP Centre as he develops a budget version of BarbeSkew.

Visit the BarbeSkew website