With the dream of hassle free launch and retrieval of trailer boats, the Balex Automatic Boat Loader (ABL) was born. Mr Bacon had been working on the idea in various forms for more than 10 years before entrepreneur Paul Symes invested into the business in late 2013.

The Automatic Boat Loader uses a powered roller system to automatically launch or recover a boat on to a trailer. With enough torque to pull up to 2,500kg of boat, the system operates quickly and smoothly in all weather conditions. No pushing, shoving, ropes, hooks, or winches required.

The ABL can be easily assembled onto any new or existing wobble-roller trailer without adding any attachments to your boat. The Hydraulic Drive Units replace the rear wobble arms and the Power and Pump Assembly, housed in a durable casing, is connected to the winch-end of the trailer.

The Locus team worked from the outset initially on the market validation before Paul invested into the business and then built a lean Minimum Viable Product (MVP) programme that rapidly developed the product, brand, and marketing. This fully integrated programme allowed the whole team to get immersed with the company, and the Balex

team works on site at the new Locus studio in their dedicated breakout room.

The ABL launched at the Hutchwilco Boat Show in May 2014, which provided excellent market validation, including the prize of the Hutchwilco Award for Most Innovative Local Product. "It was beyond our expectations to get the Hutchwilco award at our first product launch," said managing director Paul Symes, who accepted the award alongside Mr Bacon.

The ABL system also provides a platform for other innovative products. With more than 90,000 trailer boats sold annually in North America and 30,000 in Australia, the export opportunities are significant.

The team is now gearing up for the final development refinements and gearing up for manufacturing.