Diary of a start-up - Safetray makes its Festival debut

My nails dramatically decreased in size during the month of July. I nervously nibbled as I

awaited the first production units arriving from China, desperate for Safetray to play its

own part in the largest arts festival in the world - a showcase in front of an international

audience within my beloved hometown during Edinburgh's multiple festivals.

Leading up to the arrival I had been fed worrying snippets of information regarding the

progress with the mould tool. The initial photographs were kept from me - Fearsomengine quite

rightly deciding that a snapshot image of a mangled piece of plastic might be more upsetting

than informative - and so it was a relief indeed to finally see (a fortnight ago) a physical

embodiment of the Safetray looking actually rather handsome.

And so it was, at a stall in the glorious sunshine at Edinburgh's Foodies Festival in

Holyrood Park, the very first Safetrays - hot off our production tool - were let loose on the

general public; and what a reaction we received.

The most common reaction from people was the suggestion that we should go on Dragons' Den;

the second was one of surprise that nobody had ever thought of it before.

A new reaction - limited to a handful of people, exclusively Scottish - was that Safetray is

'cheating'. A remnant of our Calvinist past, I imagine: if it makes our lives easier, it must

be immoral. Curiously, I quite liked that perspective. Maybe it's the Calvinist Scot in me

welcoming criticism.

The majority were overwhelmingly supportive and excited by the concept - especially those who

were hospitality professionals. Our pre-order book was bulging by the end of the weekend,

filled with trade buyers and consumers alike. With a few amendments to be made and our first

substantial volume of the Safetrays only arriving in October, I was just sorry that we were

not able to sell them on the spot.

An added bonus to Foodies was the amount of people who entered our competition: 'Should have

used a Safetray'. The task? To be filmed recounting a tale of an accident involving a toppled

tray. The prize for the most spectacular story was a bottle of Pol Roger Champagne, the

winner of which is to be announced when we launch our retailing website with video-embeds via

YouTube.

Over thirty people told us their stories. There were stories of A-list celebrities with food

in their laps; a girl so fresh from a coffee spill accident that she was still wearing the

bandages; red wine over a white shirt at a restaurant opening and an accident involving a

customer being set alight with a toppled tray of flaming Sambucas. Yowzers.

We chose The Famous Spiegeltent to be the first venue to use the Safetrays in situ. One of

only handful of its kind left in the world, this stunningly beautiful mirrored tent seemed a

fantastic launch pad for our trays. Amidst acrobats hanging from ropes, strong men flinging

scantily-clad ladies, jazz chanteuses singing their delicate standards and magicians turning

doves into ducks, the Safetray made its own seemingly gravity-defying debut.

Glasshouse Events, who this year manage the bars in the Spiegel Garden, also work on the Golf

Open, the Six Nations Rugby and The Grand National. It's exciting to think of the all events

at which the trusty Safetray might be acting as a silent partner in service in the not too

distant future.