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Fashionable, trendy or stylish aren’t words many people would associate with health and safety gear – but three islanders are hoping their new venture into protective eyewear can change that.
Whether it’s building, carpentry, tiling or stonemasonry, those in a trade-based career will be all too familiar with the importance of wearing eye protection when doing their job.
But in Brad Bougourd’s 16 years in the construction industry, and as owner of Built, he noticed a problem – people weren’t wearing their safety glasses and risking injury because of it.
“The eyewear is uncomfortable, looks awful and people just don't care about it,” said Brad.
“The glasses have lots of glare when you’re wearing them and they get thrown about and scratched. People don’t want to wear them.”
It occurred to Brad that if protective glasses were comfortable and stylish, people would want to wear them.
This marked the early beginnings of what would become Salus Eyewear.
“Salus” is Latin for the word “safety”. As the name implies, Salus Eyewear produces glasses that not only adhere to health and safety standards but offer a stylish alternative to traditional personal protection equipment.
And like all great ideas, this one started in the pub.
Brad said: "I thought about the idea for a while, and then, believe it or not, we joined forces in the pub.”
“We” being Brad and his fellow co-founder Jonny Seller, who is also the co-founder of local marketing agency iPOP Digital.
He brings 10 years of marketing experience to Salus Eyewear, and was the push behind bringing Brad’s idea to fruition and getting the first prototype made.
Pictured: Brad and Jonny shared their initial ideas for Salus Eyewear in the pub.
Jonny shared: “At the time, Brad was living in Australia but in Jersey for a holiday.
"He pitched the idea and I thought, ‘amazing, let's just give it a go’.”
Brad added: “I didn't have a business at that point, so Johnny, being 10 years into iPOP, was able to help drive that forward from a business perspective, rather than just an idea.”
Brad soon found a supplier in Taiwan that could help make their ambitions of the eyewear brand a reality.
They got to work, creating designs, shapes and moulds, and set up a registered company in February of this year.
“It took a year to get the moulds because safety glasses have to go through rigorous testing,” shared Brad, who got the opportunity to see the factory in Taiwan for himself when he moved back to Jersey from Australia.
Soon enough, Tom Stead had joined the team as Sales Director.
Pictured: Tom Stead, Sales Director (left), Brad Bougourd, co-founder (middle) and Jonny Seller, co-founder (right).
A health and safety professional and Director of WorkSafe Jersey, Tom joined Brad and Jonny in bringing their skills and expertise together to curate a successful brand and product, which officially launched in June of this year.
Jonny said: “It’s a good mix of people - I can do the brand and website, Brad's been heavily focused on products and manufacturing and Tom’s Chartered status with the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) gives us that credibility."
And the eyewear is the real deal, as demonstrated by a video on Salus Eyewear’s Instagram where a pair of glasses survive being literally run over by a truck – twice.
Brad explained: “The glasses achieved an EN166 FTKN rating – a European standard for eye protection.
“F means they can withstand impact; T shows they handle extreme temperatures; K means they are anti-scratch; and N indicates their anti-fog coating.”
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This dedication to achieving the necessary safety ratings is part of a wider mission to reduce and prevent accidents in the industry.
"We want to remove the bad stigma of safety eyewear by making them look stylish,” Brad shared.
“You can wear your sunglasses on the way home from work, leave them on your van dashboard or even go to the pub in them.”
Jonny added: “The idea is someone can go to work and then socialise with people outside of work still wearing their safety eyewear.
"Rather than seeing it as a necessity, you want to use it.”
Despite Salus Eyewear being in its first year of business, Brad, Jonny and Tom’s mission is clearly resonating with those in the industry – their products are stocked in seven stores locally and in more branches in the UK.
Jonny said: “Salus Eyewear is in five Pentagon stores and two YESSS Electrical. We’re in Baudains Trade Supplies in Guernsey too.
“We’re also available at the online retailer TF Tools and we’ve just launched on Amazon.”
And using Jonny’s marketing expertise, Salus Eyewear has been praised and supported by construction influencers like @alstoolchannel, @errioc_carpentryltd and@woodpeckersworkshop24.
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“We've grown our social media presence using outreach into influencers see if they want to collaborate with us – we've had so much positive feedback," said Jonny.
“Obviously as a startup, we don't have loads of money to invest in this, but these people are actually liking the products that want to promote it anyway.”
There are no signs of slowing down for the team who, after such a positive reception, shared their ambitions to expand, cater to different audiences and become a household name.
"We're in talks to create prescription safety glasses, which means people will be able to wear them all the time,” Brad said.
“I’d like to see Salus throughout the whole of Europe and potentially branch out into other products,” added Jonny.
“Even safety clothing, cleaning kits, accessories or just sunglasses as well.”
Brad continued: “Getting into Europe is a big one, because our sunglasses and polarised lenses are good for warmer regions and offshore oil rigs.”
The fact they are partnered with a large supplier in Taiwan, the team say, means they have extra scalability potential with a supplier that can support the big dreams they have for the brand.
"My vision is that people would refer to their safety glasses as Salus glasses,” said Jonny.
“They’d say: ‘Have you got your Salus glasses’, rather than your safety glasses.”
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