BUBBLEBUM.CO.UK:A DERRY-BASED woman has developed an inflatable, safety-approved, portable car booster seat. The inventor, Gráinne Kelly, is a mother of two young children and had become increasingly frustrated by problems associated with securing booster seats when hiring a car abroad.

“When my mother-in-law was seriously ill last year we visited her regularly in England and we were travelling back and forth with two children, aged three and six.

“Every time we arrived at the car hire desk, even though we had pre-booked the car booster-seats, they’d say ‘sorry we don’t have any, they are not available’.

“So, you are miles from the nearest shop and either have to break the law and drive without them or get back on the plane.”

The problem is that drivers cannot shove a cushion or a rolled-up jacked under the child: a booster seat has to meet a UN ECE regulation and be crash tested.

Kelly looked online for portable car booster-seats but couldn’t find any that met the safety requirements, so she designed her own.

“I had a pretty good idea how to address the problem and I knew an inflatable cushion was the best way”.

Once Kelly had designed it she used contacts in China to secure a manufacturer and produce a prototype. “I went to China and showed them exactly what I wanted.”

The prototype was completed in March 2009 and regulatory approval was secured by September. She shipped the first consignment from China last December.

Separate safety testing was done for the EU and US markets. “There are lots of different elements, particularly with regards to labelling. The product is now approved for sale in all EU countries and has just completed dynamic testing in the US and should be available there shortly.”

The seat has clips on each side which are linked into a standard three-point safety belt. Kelly employed a marketing company for help with branding although she came up with the name. “It is a bubble for your bum. We have got to make it funky and colourful because it is for children of a certain age. Children also like saying the word ‘bum’ because they are not allowed say it. My children helped with the colours and styling.”

In the Republic children under 150cm must use a booster seat to prevent the seat belt catching their neck in a collision.

The product can be customised and Kelly is thinking about licencing manufacture to a number of companies but wants to establish the brand first.

Bubblebum is patent pending and the brand is a registered trademark.

It costs €22.26 which is an introductory offer.