Golf buggy manufacturer secures funding

Bank of Scotland Corporate has provided Brighton-based golf trolley and mobility aid manufacturer Trolltech with six-figure funding, enabling the company to manufacture revolutionary golf buggies and mobility aids.
Trolltech developed an innovative product that attaches to wheelchairs and can power them up hills, and has since looked at other commercial applications for the product, including the golf cart market. The funding will also help secure the new company’s premises, be used for general marketing purposes and for the design and development of a company website.
In addition to the finance deal with Bank of Scotland Corporate, Trolltech has also signed a distribution deal with electric bike manufacturer Powabike and mobility aid retailer Days Medical Aids, enabling its prototype products to be put into production, and sold on the UK market. The distribution deal means Powabike and Days Medical Aids have agreed to sell Trolltech’s products to retailers for the next three years. The two arrangements are expected to yield at least £1.5 million.
Trolltech’s products include the Golf Chariot, an innovative new stand upright golf buggy; and Street Chariot, which is similar to the golf vehicle and allows people to stand whilst at the same time moving independently through streets and shops.
Trolltech was set up in 1999 by managing director David Jackson, who recently came out of retirement after spending most of his life in the engineering industry. “The funding from Bank of Scotland Corporate has been critical to ensure the long term commercial development of the products,” he said. “The two new distribution deal are hopefully the start of something big so be prepared to see our products on pavements, roads and golf courses near you in the future.”
Rachel Harris, new business manager for Bank of Scotland Corporate in Reading, said, “The product is extremely innovative and thanks to its dual disability and golf application the product is not over exposed to one particular market. We worked with David to come up with a finance package that would suit his business and benefit his relationship with his distribution partners.”