Product makes its Gloucestershire inventor £1 million-plus
It was invented in Gloucestershire, it’s made here, and it’s a product that has already made its inventor nearly £1.5 million - and that’s just the start of its potential.
Dear reader,
Welcome to Thursday’s story.
Regular readers will know we usually only feature one article today, but as we were sent a release of some award winning businesses from the county we thought we’d quickly add that into the mix too to help them celebrate.
That’s the gallery scrolling away below of winners from the inaugural Forest Economic Partnership Innovation Awards, which aim to showcase just some of the many businesses from the Forest of Dean.
You can find out more via the link to the press release.
And so to another tale of innovation. The main story on this page is our take on a release that went out about a product invented by a Gloucestershire business.
It looks to have immense potential and we wanted to know more, so we do what Raikes does - spoke the business in question.
We think it’s worth championing in the way we have. It’s a county invention that’s given birth to a whole new business that’s already netted £1.4 million-plus and one that suggests it has the potential to even bigger and better figures than that. And it was not only invented in Gloucestershire, it’s made here too!
Enjoy.
Best regards,
Andrew Merrell (editor).
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Forest Economic Partnership Innovation Awards 2025 winners
The Forest Economic Partnership (FEP) has announced the winners of its first-ever Innovation Awards, aimed at celebrating the pioneering spirit and ingenuity of businesses across the district. The awards were sponsored by the Watts of Lydney Group and saw 24 businesses shortlisted. You can find out more here.
Product makes its Gloucestershire inventor £1 million-plus
It was invented in Gloucestershire, it’s made here, and it’s a product that has already made its creator nearly £1.5 million - and that’s just the start of its potential.
By Andrew Merrell.
It’s got shades of the Adey’s MagnaClean filter system already - another heating-related product invented in Gloucestestershire that went on to disrupt the market and make its inventor a small fortune.
When former British Gas engineer Chris Adey invented the magnetic filter for household boilers in 2003 he gave birth to a business that last sold in 2021 for £210 million.
Now it’s the turn of the clever people at Hewer to come up with an innovation, one the firm is already seeing promising returns on and all the signs are there for significant growth ahead.
Whether Hewer will see the same incredible returns remains to be seen, but its Heat Saviour™ system, which the Gloucester firm claims can cut heat pump installation time and save customer up to 20 per cent on labour costs (about £2,000), is already a hit.
It’s already gone into 1,000 social homes in the South West, and with the Government pushing the sector to install 600,000 heat pumps annually by 2028 (with a ban on new gas boilers in homes from 2027) demand should only rise.
“It retails for £1,200 plus VAT. It’s a product for life as it comes with a 20-year lifetime guarantee,” said Stuart Hesk, director at Hewer.
Which by our calculation means the firm has already made more than £1.4 million from the Heat Saviour™.
Was it really invented in Gloucestershire, or has the firm found a product abroad and simply imported it?
“Yes, and fully patented,” said Hesk (pictured below), adding: “Its manufactured here in Gloucestershire too.”
Hewer set up Heat Saviour as a seperate business in 2022 and spent time undergoing what it called a rigorous ‘test and learn’ period before launching proper.
Growth has been in the region of 16 per cent in the last 12 months for the business as a whole, with Hewer now employing 160 staff.
“2025 is proving to be another successful year for us. We continue grow and we’re on track with our ambitious growth goals. Key areas of growth are renewables,” added Hesk.
Is he expecting that to result in more jobs?
“As we continue to grow, we will expect to grow our team to accommodate the growth," he added.
Although the sector fell short of delivering on the Government targets of 600,000 heat pumps last year, barely hitting 100,000 according to the Heat Pump Association, things are looking good for Hewer and for Heat Saviour.
In response to the shortfall the Government has pledged to double the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) to £295m and launched a public awareness campaign to spotlight the £7,500 heat pump grant.
The engineers fitting the Heat Saviour™ system approve too.
Daniel McNally, director of Gloucestershire-based heat pump installation firm, EcoHeat Plumbing, Heating and Renewables, said: “Heat Saviour has now become a standard part of our toolkit for every suitable heat pump installation.
“It delivers on every front, lower installation costs, simpler maintenance and enhanced homeowner satisfaction. For us, it’s more than a product, it enables better service and advances system design.”
Explaining why Heat Saviour™ (pictured above) was being seen as a cost-effective solution, Hesk said: “Installing and retrofitting heat pumps can be complex, costly and disruptive.
“They are often designed with non-universal parts, requiring entire heating systems to be ripped out – systems that could have years of use left in them.
“Heat Saviour™ is a much smarter and cheaper way for engineers to install and maintain a heat pump, making property management easier and improving residential satisfaction.
“We saw the huge amounts of unnecessary waste, cost and downtime that installing and retrofitting heat pumps was causing, and so, as a customer-first business, we set about inventing a solution to tackle these issues.”
For those who like to know the technical bit - the product is described as “a first-of-its-kind pre-assembled unit”.
It sits underneath a standard hot water cylinder, transferring the heat fed from the heat pump through a plate exchanger, which indirectly powers the central heating system.
Unlike traditional heat pump systems, which tie households into specific manufacturers’ components due to their singular loop design, Hewer’s design enables the use of off-the-shelf components for quicker installation.
Operating on a dual-circuit loop, the heat pump runs independently of the existing central heating, eliminating the need for system overhauls.
With glycol only in the heat pump circuit, it cuts glycol use by 80 per cent, which Hewer says is better for the environment, and allows radiator maintenance without the costly expense of having to drain and replace the glycol solution.
The unit also has a built-in backup heating element, which can either be switched on manually or controlled remotely using a Vericon Systems connected solution.
This avoids downtime during maintenance or pump failure - crucial for vulnerable people - and reduces how often engineers need to enter the property.
Hewer was founded in 1965 by David Hewer, starting as a modest heating and plumbing service in Gloucester.
The company has its headquarters in Quedgeley, offering a wide range of heating, mechanical, electrical and renewable services for both domestic and commercial customers, and was subject to a management buyout in September 2024.