The Baby Boomers

Apr 27 2008 By Graeme Lennox

Mums And Dads Cash In On £6billion Business So You Want To Join The Baby Industry

NEVER work with children or animals, they say.

But turning your nose up at a dirty nappy means missing out on a £6billion industry.

When it comes to pampering their little ones, yummy mummies and doting dads spare no expense. They spend £500million a year on nappies alone.

Magnus and Fiona Smyth were so horrified by the mountain of disposable nappies they went through with their first child Kyle, they went into the reusable, environmentally-friendly nappy business.

They now make nappies from bamboo fibres and cotton and today they are among 150 specialist firms at the Scottish Baby Show at the SECC in Glasgow. Born in 2000, their firm TotsBots started life with the pair designing cloth nappies on the kitchen table of their tenement flat in Partick, Glasgow.

They sell to shops such as Mothercare - where model mum Lydia Sergeant and baby Amber, below, were pictured during "Real Nappy Week" - John Lewis and Toys "R" Us.

Magnus said: "When Kyle was born, most of our waste was made up of disposable nappies. When Maia came along, we tried various cloth nappies but nothing was quite right.

"We were about to give up when I came home from work one day to find Fiona sitting at the kitchen table cutting up all our towels."

The couple were amazed how well their prototype nappies worked and were soon inundated with requests from friends. They sent samples to retailers and within two weeks received their first major order.

The average baby gets through 4000 disposable nappies before they reach the age of two.

There has been a massive increase in demand for cheaper and more environmentally-friendly alternatives.

Magnus, 36, and Fiona, 39, make nappies using bamboo fibre, a sustainable resource and 60 per cent more absorbent than cotton. They employ 30 staff at their factory in Glasgow and the nappies are made at three plants in Turkey.

TotsBots have just launched a new range, Flexi-Tots. Magnus said: "You don't need to soak or boil-wash cloth nappies. All you need to do is stick them in a 40 degree wash. Flexi-Tots contain leaks as well as any disposable nappy and they save you £500 compared to disposables."

With the company prospering, Magnus and Fiona wanted to give something back. Son Darach was born last year with a heart condition, prompting the couple to join forces with the British Heart Foundation.

Magnus explains: "Darach had to have emergency surgery when he was just two days old. Fortunately he has bounced back amazingly well.

"Around 4000 babies are born with heart problems every year. We now have BHF logos on all packaging and donate one per cent of sales income to the charity."

Visit www.totsbots.com