How the Buggy Brolly began
The Buggy Brolly is the brainchild of Mother of three, Catherine Duffy, whom identified a need for the Buggy Brolly after the birth of her second child. Here she tells us about her inspiration for starting the business.
“It was approximately 5 years ago when I was walking home from shopping with my daughter in her pushchair, when it began raining. I covered the baby with her rain cover and then put up my umbrella to keep dry, I found it impossible to push the buggy with one hand whilst trying to hold the umbrella with the other. In the end I gave it up as a bad job and decided to put the umbrella away which resulted in me getting very wet. At this point, I wondered why there wasn’t an umbrella that simply attached to your pram to leave your hands free to push your pram.
After this I tried in vain to find a pram umbrella for parents. Despite looking in many of the well known stores etc, and lots of time searching, I just wasn’t able to find anything like this. It was at this stage that I thought that if this was a problem that I was encountering, then surely other mums must be too. I then decided that I would look into having a product like this made myself, however I didn’t have a clue where to begin.
My challenge was to create a brolly that was:
- easy for everyone to use
- looked attractive
- practical
- could be stored easily ready for weather changes
After contacting several manufacturers I was no further forward than when I began. Undeterred, I decided to persevere as I really felt that my idea for the umbrella, was one that would prove useful to many people as well as myself. After many many months of research I came across a manufacturer, who upon discussions, felt that they had the technology to manufacture my umbrella. After months of discussions and several prototypes later, we finally had the umbrella completed. The Buggy Brolly has been designed to be simple and convenient to use.
It will fit most buggies/prams and can stay attached to most buggies, even when folded down. (dependant on the style of pram/buggy). The idea being that it stays on the buggy and with the pressing of a button can be manually put into the required position and extended and opened easily. Similarly of course it can be closed very simply and easily and kept to the side of the buggy when not in use, ready for the next rain shower. The Buggy Brolly also has UV protection which allows it to be used as a sunshade for the summer days.
The last five + years have been a bit of a roller coaster ride, sometimes frustrating, sometimes difficult but always exciting. As a result of a simple problem, I now run my own successful company, selling the Buggy Brolly.”
Thanks to Catherine’s endeavours, the Buggy Brolly is now available throughout the UK as well as throughout Europe, New Zealand & Australia, and you too can now stay dry and give your little one your full attention.