Bristol entrepreneur Ed Cheney and his bamboo T-shirt business Mabboo feature in a new TV business show which started this week.
Ed launched the business, which imports natural-fibre T-shirts made in China from sustainable sources, in late 2010 and was a runner-up in last year’s UWE Biz Idea Competition.
That led him to enter The Angel, Sky 1’s new reality entrepreneur show which follow six hopefuls as they compete for £100,000 of investment to make their business dreams come true.
The show, which starts this evening at 8pm and runs for five hour-long episodes, is fronted by billionaire investor John Caudwell of Phones4U fame and presented by Amanda Byram of the Total Wipeout show.
Ed, originally from Somerset, spent two years in China after gaining a degree in Chinese and History from Nottingham University.
Initially he taught English and began learning Chinese in the coastal city of Qingdao, but it wasn’t long before he came across the pervasive presence of bamboo in Chinese society, culture and products. Convinced there was a UK market for bamboo clothing, he moved to Bristol and set up Mabboo.
The company, which sells its products from markets around Bristol, including at the Tobacco Factory Sunday market, and at music festivals around the UK, now turns over £30,000 a year.
Mabboo is based on a sustainable business model using bamboo, the world’s fastest-growing plant, to create a range of ethically-made clothing with thermo-regulating and hypo-allergenic properties.
Ed said: “I realised when I looked into it, that bamboo is an amazing natural product.
“It can grow as high as a double-decker bus in a week. The soft inner core of the bamboo is often discarded as a by-product, but I discovered that some Chinese businesses break this down and spin this into a thread that is used to make a T-shirt type material.
“This material is really comfortable to wear – it is very soft, anti-bacterial and helps to keep you cool.
“Growing bamboo takes much less water and energy than cotton because it grows so fast, and overall it is a much more eco-friendly product. It is also very versatile in terms of where it grows, and because it is a grass it spreads, so it can be cut down and it will re-grow.”
Ed says he was impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit when he first went to China.
“I found that everyone is willing to have a go at business,” he said. “This was part of my inspiration to start my own business. Chinese products and manufacturing are clearly growing tremendously, but for me it’s about having a business that works but is also ethical.
“I now have a supplier and a manufacturer in China that I visit regularly to check on the business and how the orders are going. I am trying to grow my business steadily, so I market and sell all the products myself. And of course I wear them as well.
“Bamboo has very special temperature control properties and is now used by people who look for this aspect because of their job – for example athletes and bicycle couriers. The range of shirts I have created reflect the ethos of the company, it is all about being cool, but also about respecting the planet.”
Ed assures Panda lovers that, while images of the animals appear regularly on Mabboo T-shirts, they are not deprived of their favourite food by using bamboo to make clothing – they eat a completely different variety of the plant.”
Mabboo’s products can be seen at www.mabboo.com
