The company that won the ‘Spark Stockport’ Best Business Growth Idea competition with its idea for an obese sized training mannequin, has now turned that concept into reality. The Bariquin, which weighs 25 stones, is designed so that only one trainer is needed to move the heavyweight dummy -providing it’s not assembled.

Chris Jarratt, the Managing Director of Bariquins, had the original idea to develop the dummy as a training aid for emergency and health workers to practice moving plus-size people, particularly in emergencies.

Chris said “The high rates of people suffering from obesity will ensure that there will be many circumstances where teams will be involved in moving those affected by it. Training to do it safely and efficiently will help everyone involved.”

With back injuries costing the NHS £400 million a year and medical negligence claims growing yearly, Chris believes his Bariquin idea will save organisations time and money as well as preventing many long term injuries.

‘Barry’, as the mannequin is known, has been developed with the help of Openhouse Products in Birkenhead. They already supply emergency and health sector customers and have over 30 years’ experience in manufacturing.

Carl Taylor, the Commercial Manager there, said “We were approached by Chris to make Barry. It’s been great to see Barry go from an image to reality and he’s certainly generating interest among clients.”

Barry consists of 15 weighted parts, a jacket plus realistic looking head, hands and feet and can be assembled in less than 10 minutes. Bariquins are based in Stockport and can be reached through their website www.bariquins.com where their contact details are listed.