Quick fix for burst pipes brings success for plumbing entrepreneur

The creator of an ingenious device that provides a temporary fix for burst water pipes has won the UK’s business pitching contest for new entrepreneurs.

Ross Dickinson, a 35-year old plumber from Scotland, secured 50,000 pounds’ worth of business support following the grand final of The Pitch 2011. The event was the official UK closing party for Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Other finalists included Cara Sayer, with Snoozeshade, a product to help children sleep while in a pushchair; Helen McAvoy, with Rocktails, pre-packaged frozen cocktails; Barbara Hughes, with Boozeberries, a premium liqueur infused with wild berries; and Gill Ellis and Nicola Morgan, the creators of Good Choice Teddy, a cuddly toy that helps children improve their behaviour.

The contestants were judged by a panel of business experts including entrepreneur Karen Darby, marketing guru Carl Hopkins and Darren Fell, founder of online accounting company Crunch.

Ross Dickinson’s winning device is the Kibosh Emergency Pipe Repair that can be clamped around damaged pipe work to provide a temporary repair solution in an emergency. It restricts the amount of damage caused by the burst pipe and can save homeowners expensive emergency call-out charges.

“As a plumber I know that the most expensive damage and the greatest loss comes in the minutes after a pipe bursts,” he said. “Yet, with the Kibosh, anybody can quickly clamp it over the burst, stop the leak, and get straight back to normal while they contact a plumber for a permanent fix. In the worst-case scenario, it would make a gush into a manageable trickle.”

He continued: “Everyone knows how distressing and damaging a flood caused by a burst or damaged water pipe can be. People feel completely helpless in the event, particularly when there is no way to turn the water off and stop the flow. Kibosh provides a fast and extremely effective way of stopping the flow of water.”

The device also works on accidentally ruptured or perforated pipes as well as those broken by freezing conditions. It can be used as a temporary repair for up to a week and no tools are necessary to fit it.

Dickinson developed the plans for the Kibosh while running his plumbing business based in Walkerburn, near Peebles.

“I came up with the idea three winters ago,” he said. “I was fixing somebody’s burst pipes and the place was absolutely wrecked and I just said to myself: ‘I can’t believe there’s nothing on the market that people could use’, and that’s when I had my Eureka moment and thought of the Kibosh.”

That evening he went home and drew a few rough sketches before approaching Cademuir Toolmaking in Selkirk, a company owned by the father of one of his friends. Cademuir helped him come up with a prototype for the Kibosh.

Dickinson now has an initial order for more than 10,000 units from leading supplies stores including Travis Perkins, Plumbstore and Toolstop that will eventually see his invention stocked UK-wide.

Craig Stirling, partner at law firm Davidson Chalmers, which helped Dickinson commercialise his invention, said: “This distribution deal is a significant step forward in his goal of taking the Kibosh to a global market.”

The product has been designed for use with 15mm water pipes and Dickinson is also working on a range of models to fit different widths of piping and also for pipes containing different substances such as gas and compressed air.

He concluded: “Once we have all the different sizes ready, we will definitely be looking at an international market for Kibosh. There has already been interest from countries across Europe and from Azerbaijan, Canada and the US - which is very encouraging.”