British entrepreneur develops a product to provide a helping hand to the UK’s hygiene efforts

British entrepreneur develops a product to provide a helping hand to the UK’s hygiene efforts

LedgeMate is an antibacterial shelf for public spaces and bathrooms that kills 99.9% of bacterial growth

A young British entrepreneur has designed a product to improve the UK’s hand hygiene routines.

Ledgemate is an antibacterial shelf that enables people in public spaces to place their belongings safely and cleanly while washing their hands. Despite its simplicity, it is a ‘first-of-its-kind’ model that prevents 99.9% of bacterial growth while addressing a glaring gap in the market when it comes to our bathroom behaviours. In addition to the shelf, LedgeMate also serves as a changeable notice board that can; remind the public to wash their hands, alert them to any key venue messages or protocols around hygiene or serve as a platform for other advertising or brand messages.

“We all been to the bathroom and had nowhere to place our phone, keys or coffee but either on the floor, on the toilet or next to the sink”, said Ledgemate founder, Matthew Marshall. “As consumers, customers and visitors we’ve always put up with it but, at a time when hygiene and the risk of cross-contamination and infection is so acute, this product only serves to underline how potentially dangerous these types of environments have been – especially as they are a breeding ground for bacteria.”

The launch of LedgeMate comes as the UK is recording record increases in COVID case numbers, underlining the importance of ensuring public spaces and bathrooms remain clean. Indeed, the World Health Organisation and governments around the world cite hand hygiene as one of the most critical factors in preventing the spread of this (and many other) virus.

In addition to general bacterial testing, LedgeMate has also been tested against feline coronavirus where results showed a reduction of 99.4% of that specific virus in two hours. The product requires no maintenance or instructions to use.

Matthew continues, “Hand hygiene has always been important and this isn’t a flash-in-the-pan development designed to capitalise on the here and now. The fact is that schools, airports, stadiums and many other public environments have all historically underserved their customers when it comes to hygiene and cleanliness and that is something that has to change.”

LedgeMate is priced at £24.99 and can be colour customised for any venue. It is delivered ready to install, with an average install time of under five minutes.

Following the development of LedgeMate, Matthew is a finalist at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards in the ‘pivot entrepreneur of the year category’. The winner will be announced this evening, 23 September.

To find out more about or to place an order, please visit https://ledgemate.com/