Bubbling over with our dream

From the archive, first published Sunday 15th Apr 2007.

IT could be the answer for thousands of wives and girlfriends looking for a present to give their football-loving, lager-swigging menfolk.

Then, outside the football season, it can double as the centrepiece for a girls' night out.

The Drinks Bubble has been invented and launched by a Southend partnership with big ideas about business as well as about drink.

Matt Sanders and Michael Stanton spotted a bubble-sized hole in the market for a drinks dispenser that would contain large quantities of liquid - and be a talking point even for teetotallers.

Matt explained: "The Bubble can hold three litres of any type of drink - beer, cocktails, water- and it means you can pour your own drink. It means that if you're watching football, you never need to miss another goal.

"It's an end to the situation where you go to get another beer and just as you reach the fridge, you hear the crowd roar."

The partners are also selling the Bubble to bars and clubs. Matt said: "We've tried it out at a bar and it definitely increases sales. It's also safer, more labour-saving, and more ecological, since it involves fewer empty bottles."

Light enough to be carried to barbecues and picnics, the Drinks Bubble has also tapped another and unexpected market.

Matt said: "It was designed to look aesthetically pleasing, and some people seem to be buying it just to have as an ornament or a conversation piece, not necessarily to put drink in it."

The Drinks Bubble is the result of a shared dream by the two friends. "We're both ambitious and we're both interested in the same industry," Matt said.

"My dream has always been to run a club and Michael's dream is to have a restaurant of his own. So we sat down to work out a product that we could sell into that industry, and came up with the Bubble."