Member Article

Behind the Business: Salford-based design startup Swifty Scooters

Swifty Scooters was founded by husband and wife design team, Jason and Camilla Iftakhar in Salford.

The first 20 models were hand built by Jason and sold out when they launched at London Design week and now the company has customers across the globe.

All profits are reinvested in the company into new product design and new products are launched regularly.

In 2014 turnover was £140k. In 2015 they anticipate turning over between £350k and £400k.

Swifty Scooters employ five people in total including Jason and Camilla.

Jason and Camilla also run a design studio called Jamily Design Studio which has been the main financial support in the last four years.

HSBC have recently granted the company a small business loan which has helped the company grow.

Many investors both companies and private individuals have been interested in the company but to date the co-founders haven’t found the right partner, preferring to grow steadily and allow the brand to develop.

Jason spoke exclusively to Bdaily, he said: “Design is at the heart of the company and everything we do.

“From big decisions to small, our creative approach reinforces our brand direction and values.

“The biggest challenge we face is the classic startup challenge of growing the brand / business organically which is cash flow, particularly as we manufacture a complicated and high value product.

“To date we remain the owners of the brand and have managed to fund the business with little resources, buckets of passion, hard work but most importantly positive attitudes and open minds.

“Designing an innovative idea / product is probably the easiest and most enjoyable part of the business, In fact we have several years of new product development ready to go.

“Turning that idea into a commercial success is a whole other story. We also have excellent customer feedback, our customers just fall in love the product - this always makes each sale a pleasure.

“There’s a kids scooter coming, apparel programme and much more I can’t talk about at the moment.

“Rest assured Swifty is here to grow and scale to become a household brand name delivering innovation and the best possible products for our customers.

“We are continually growing our customer base globally, with a distribution in Canada, our most recent territory.

“We are a family business, fun, optimistic and super efficient in what we do.

“We believe in people and choose only the very best to join the team.”

Camilla said: “We are bringing a new updated collection out in September and have high expectations for the Electric scooter towards the end of the year. Our retailer and distributor list is also growing and something we are focusing on throughout 2015.

“Swifty Scooters are premium adult kick scooters and since our launch in 2011 our market has grown with several other brands following suit.

“We see this as a good thing as we focus on quality and engineering the best possible product for our customers.

“The new competition focuses on price which our customers are less concerned with. We have many customers who convert to Swifty Scooters after bad experiences with other brands.

“There are lots of consumers looking for the quality, style and reputation that Swifty Scooters offer.”

Jason wants to inspire budding entrepreneurs, and to challenge the myth that you have to be experienced or privileged to run and own a successful business.

Camilla’s personal ambition is to promote scooting as a safe mode of sustainable transport, that is more accessible to women, parents, and commuters in heavily congested urban areas.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .