In celebration of Small Business Saturday on 7^th December, we are highlighting some of the SMEs we’ve supported in their quest to develop, create and innovate.

The ethos at the heart of the Small Business Saturday campaign is to promote small businesses and the people behind them, and to help this invaluable sector of the economy grow and thrive.

Here are a few of the small businesses we’re working with to bring innovative products to the market:

Paul and Jacine Rutasikwa, co-founded the Matugga Distillery in 2018, and were one of the first in the UK to produce rum from scratch. The Livingston based Distillery now produces a multi-award-winning range of handcrafted spirits which are distributed across the UK and Europe.

Matugga Distillery has benefited from a number of funding initiatives managed or co-managed by Interface, including the Healthier Products Innovation Fund, the Food & Drink Net Zero Challenge Fund and an Innovation Voucher. This allowed them to collaborate with Scotland’s Rural College, Heriot-Watt University and Queen Margaret University on a variety of developmental projects highlighting the distillery’s commitment to sustainability, innovation, and social responsibility.

Partnering with Edinburgh Napier University, Moray-based Gut Feelings make small batch production of flavoured Kombucha. Founder, Hannah Taylor, said: “Kombucha is a fermented drink, believed to provide healthy micronutrients and beneficial bacteria which can help to detoxify, aid digestion and strengthen immunity. However, very little research exists which can substantiate these claims.

“I wanted to work with an academic partner, with expertise in food science and microbiology, to establish the bacterial composition of the drink and to undertake an analysis of the product to determine and quantify the antimicrobial effects of the drink on human health.”

One of the academic partners at Edinburgh Napier University, Dr Sophie Foley, added: “The project with Gut Feelings used DNA sequencing technology and data analysis, which the company had found difficult to source commercially, to analyse the microbiome of their produce.

“As they scale up production, the company will be able to use the new information they have gained from analysis, confident that the microbiome is not impacted with alterations to production and that the potential health benefits remain intact with increased volumes.”

One of the major advantages to businesses of speaking to Interface is that they can work with academics based anywhere in Scotland, as c-monsta founder Mark Yeadon discovered.

The avid surfer had developed an early-stage prototype of a wetsuit dryer, a form of hanger, shaped so that boots and gloves could be hung in an inverted position, allowing them to dry; with a further row that could also hold a wetsuit. It looked like a sea-monster, and so c-monsta was born!

Mark, who is based in the north of Scotland, was looking to collaborate with a university partner to develop the product by enhancing the design, minimising the use of materials, and identifying the best possible materials that could be used in the manufacturing process. Design expertise was needed to make the product fully market ready.

After being referred by Business Gateway in Elgin, Carol-Ann Adams at Interface successfully partnered Mark with Nick Bell from the Product Design Engineering Department at Glasgow School of Art (GSA).

The project focused on optimising the design by taking advantage of the product design skills, detailed materials knowledge, and extensive network of manufacturers that GSA has, to develop a design that would have great functionality and could be manufactured at a price point that would make the product commercially viable.

The collaboration was an immediate success, using GSA’s skills and the client’s network of surfers to develop a product that was viable for manufacture in Scotland. Glasgow School of Art has excellent facilities – including 3D Computer Aided Design software, 3D printing facilities and a full wood and metal workshop – all of which were utilised for this project.

A further project was undertaken with a GSA student to refine the existing product architecture and materials to make it suitable for the needs of the snow sports market.

Meanwhile, make-up artist Rebecca Hastings founded ZAZA & CRUZ natural skincare company in 2013, after she became increasingly concerned about what was in the products used by her clients and children. She was seeking to discover if the antioxidants and enzymes produced during the whisky distillation process could prove beneficial for skin rejuvenation in collagen and cell turnover.

Interface introduced ZAZA & CRUZ to Robert Gordon University and using Innovation Voucher funding, research was undertaken to discover whether the active and complex mix of antioxidants, enzymes and plant phenols released from the whisky distillation process could be extracted and provide a natural and safe solution for the skin.

Working with the highly specialized and qualified team at RGU has helped Rebecca understand better the extraction process for antioxidants, how to adopt a more scientific approach towards testing and incorporating ingredients into her skincare products, improve the business and innovation in the skincare industry.

Rebecca explained: “Having the experience of the team at RGU helped me as a business owner in my field to feel confident in the results that they could produce in their lab. I feel that working together with RGU and Interface has helped my business to look forward to the future.”

Supporting teams of one, two, three or four, we are proud to have introduced academics to these passionate business people.

Since 2005 we have helped thousands of businesses through our dedicated team based regionally throughout Scotland, helping us understand what’s happening on the ground. If you would like to find out more about what we do to support small businesses, check out our Guide to Collaborating and How we can help on our website.