Young Inverness entrepreneur scoops up awards for protein shaker
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A 23-year-old from Inverness has been scooping up awards for his savvy invention, the VShake.
Jack Barrie, developed the kinetic protein shaker with dual mixing modes, back in 2019 after becoming tired of poor-performing protein shakers whilst working offshore as an NDT technician in the Black Sea.
Working long, gruelling hours meant that he often relied on protein powders and food supplements to meet his energy needs.
Over the past few months, Jack has been working hard behind the scenes to present his brand to numerous competitions.
Now, he runs a multi- award-winning business after not only winning the 2022 Scottish Edge competition, but also picking up Youth Entrepreneurship Award and the Best Commercial Award at CREATE Highland's University of the Highlands and Islands Business Competition 2022.
Mr Barrie told us a bit about his story: “I always wanted to start a business and studied this at HNC level at UHI.
“When I was working offshore, supplements played a huge role in getting through my day. One time I took four protein shakers with me, and they all broke.
“I then had a light-bulb moment and would spend three hours a day after my shift making prototypes of a shaker with materials I could find.
“I surveyed people at home and found that 85 per cent of them were unhappy with their shakers - I then patented my idea in the UK and the US.”
Now winning almost £12,000 in funding will enable VShake to cover a large portion of the initial manufacturing costs and will allow Mr Barrie and his team of five to move onto the next stages of production seamlessly.
Mr Barrie is now looking forward to the launch of his product, and working in partnership with other big name brands.
“We are really looking forward to the launch of the product and seeing it next to big name brands and in places such as Holland and Barrett”, said Mr Barrie.
