University news

Three University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art students have won unanimous funding and backing from the dragons in the last programme of the current BBC TV series of ‘Dragon’s Den’.

James Brown and Amanda Jones  of Red Button Design presented a product which they believe could provide clean water to the 1.2 billion people in the 3rd World without a reliable source. Watch their pitch on the BBC's Dragon's Den web pages. 

And in one of the best results ever on in the series, the students succeeded in convincing the five dragons to give them a total of £50,000 towards the business for a 2% equity stake each.

Reverse Osmosis Sanitation System (ROSS) allows its users to collect water from the nearest source, contaminated or not and sanitise it for drinking and bathing use. This prevents the user having to make such long journeys and reduces queuing at clean water sources, saving time and energy and promoting health.

Amanda Jones, Commercial Director of Red Button Design said: “We were thrilled with the response we received from the dragons. We had gone in hoping to publicise our product and expecting a polite let-down." 

Greig Sinclair, the University of Glasgow’s Student Enterprise Manager said: “Red Button have been successful in pitching their concept before but it’s always a bit more nerve-wracking in front of the cameras. Their continued success is down to the hard work and vision of the young entrepreneurs involved and we are extremely proud that they have come through our Glasgow Student Enterprise programme.  They are just the latest example of the student entrepreneurial culture that exists at the institution and that continues to go from strength to strength.”

Professor Seona Reid, Director of The Glasgow School of Art said: "Securing support from the Dragon's Den was an excellent end to what has been a very successful year for Red Button.  Their Reverse Osmosis Sanitation System is an excellent example of how creativity and innovation, together with engineering, can design real solutions to real problems.  This, teamed up with the entrepreneurial skills provided by the Scottish Institute for Enterprise, has produced a winning combination and we wish them every success.”
 
The programme featuring Red Button Design was broadcast last night (17 December) in the last Dragon’s Den of the current series.

Red Button Design is made up of James Brown, Nicky Pang who are both studying Product Design Engineering on a joint course run by Glasgow University and The Glasgow School of Art and Amanda Jones, a Glasgow University philosophy graduate.

Further information:
Martin Shannon, Media Relations Officer
University of Glasgow Tel: 0141 330 8593

Red Button Design
www.thisisredbutton.co.uk

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First published: 18 December 2007