About John Murray Inventor of 
Bin Tidy New Invention
I am forty something but have been in my teens ever since I can remember, that is to say, far too serious as a child and far too childish in adulthood. Fortunately, the combination of an inquisitive nature, some insight and the ability to enjoy hard work have led me to the point at which I find myself – Inventor and entrepreneur.
Unlike many inventors, I left school with few qualifications. I got work, joined the armed forces, left and started a general building company latterly specialising in drainage eventually owning a drainage surveying company turning over in excess of £1m. (Not in the Alan Sugar league but not bad for a kid written off by teachers as a complete loss)
What I do seem to have in common with most inventors is that whatever my stage in life, whichever profession, I was always making things. Whether to avoid buying, making a product better, solving a problem or simply for fun, the simplest scraps could be brought together in the most rudimentary way to achieve an effect pleasing to the self and sometimes, if lucky, others.
Bin Tidy was the result of getting fed up with seeing bags hanging over the edge of bins. Kitchen, Bathroom, Living room, leather bins, stainless steel or plastic, they all suffered the same fate. A simple strap, self holding not to enclose like a cable tie on the outside, but hugging the inside of the bin hiding the bag completely from the side elevation.
The idea is not particularly innovative, nor complex but it works. The pressure applied to the inside face of the bin is enough to hold the bag firmly in place. The addition of fragrance came when my co-director and I went to a rubbers and plastics exhibition expecting ‘all-sorts of fun’ to find the perfect additive for the product.
The Bin Tidy has been Patented because it has potential in other applications, has been featured in home-style magazines, nominated for an innovation award and is currently available in some catalogue based companies as well as this site.
The trouble we have found is explaining in a picture and the first few words that capture a sale, just how much everyone needs a Bin Tidy. Future products will have to work for themselves.
We now have a string of ideas, prototypes, Registered Community Designs and are forging ahead with development as quickly as our purse will allow. It has been and continues to be an incredibly fulfilling and energising profession.
