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There's Hope for UK-Based Design Startups: Recent ID Grad Starts Company and Will Manufacture Locally

By Rain Noe - November 22, 2011

in Design Business

A year ago Nathan Bestwick was an industrial design student at the UK's Sheffield Hallam University. Now, after receiving guidance and support from UK-based business incubator Incub, the recent ID grad is preparing to launch his own company and self-designed product, the MillMii.

The MillMii is a manual pepper grinder embracing the principles of universal design. For those with arthritis, the difficulty of working a manual pepper grinder means they're relegated to using battery-operated ones, which of course leave behind a larger carbon footprint. Bestwick's innovation was to design a manual grinder that can be operated without the user needing to form a grip: They hold the device between two palms and perform a hand-rubbing motion to create the action.

Bestwick will be launching his kitchenwares company, Yormii, in February of 2012 with plans to produce more items already in the works. And in an era when designing a new product for mass production means you'll shortly be getting on a plane to China, Bestwick is keeping things local, relying instead on a Sheffield-based manufacturing facility called The Hog Works.

"It's generally understood that in order to manufacture products you have to source them from the Far East to be able to compete on price," Bestwick told Housewares Live. "I put this myth to the test and have found that Yormii is able to match Far Eastern production prices, whilst having the added benefits of greater control over the manufacturing process, the quality of the products we produce, and vastly lower shipping costs with a smaller carbon footprint."

Here's a news clip of Bestwick from earlier this year (sharing airtime with local artisan and jewelry designer Jessica Flinn) describing his plans:

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Leon Derczynski

13 years ago

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I have that jumper too!
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Raphael

13 years ago

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Uuuuuhh... Am I the only one to see this?

http://toasterville.com/wp-content/uploads/bodum-green-toaster.jpg

Sure, its a great idea, but it's such an obvious style rip.
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Dan

13 years ago

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Brilliant all around!

well done.
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Dubya

13 years ago

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From my experience there are three possible steps in using a pepper grinder: filling, adjusting, and grinding. After checking out the product website it looks like only the grinding step was solved for someone with arthritis; it seems they would still need help with the other two steps. I really like the idea, but it needs just a little more development to be truly "universal"
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