Rising star

Martin Dix had the bright idea for his energy-monitoring device Current Cost after wondering how much usage a 100-Watt light bulb represented in cash. Launched in 2006, his company is now worth £6 million


Martin Dix had the bright idea for his energy-monitoring device Current Cost after wondering how much usage a 100-Watt light bulb represented in cash. Launched in 2006, his company is now worth £6 million

Martin Dix had the bright idea for his energy-monitoring device Current Cost after wondering how much usage a 100-Watt light bulb represented in cash. Launched in 2006, his company is now worth £6 million.

How did you develop the product?
I built a prototype in my shed. My savings went on a trip to China to research the production costs, which I had to make as cheap as possible for my suppliers. When Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) became interested, they gave us £250,000 in funding.

Describe your breakthrough moment.
I just knocked on a lot of doors and was lucky to find a partner with SSE. Before they even finished the trial, they rolled out a substantial follow-up order. We’ve now sold more than half a million units.

How have you marketed it?

Mainly by approaching utility companies who use it as a way of improving customer retention. Retail is not appealing at the moment, as we would only be hitting people already interested in green issues – so it wouldn’t be as effective at improving energy efficiency.

Who else uses it?
We’ve had orders from large companies like Honda who have a corporate social responsibility agenda. Schools are also interested and we’ve sold them to libraries that offer them out on loan like a book.

Where next?
We are looking at expanding into the US market, and we’re already set to expand into Europe. But I have to say, the UK seems to be way ahead of other countries in terms of interest in energy efficiency.

Nick Britton

Lexus Ernser

Nick was the Managing Editor for growthbusiness.co.uk when it was owned by Vitesse Media, before moving on to become Head of Investment Group and Editor at What Investment and thence to Head of Intermediary...

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