People across the globe tell Lyndsay Watterson that her business has changed their life. It all started in her kitchen in York.
A catastrophic MRSA infection in 2007 had caused irreparable damage to Lyndsay’s left leg. Three years later she chose to have it amputated. “I learned to navigate a new normal. Although I was walking with a prosthetic, I did need a walking stick sometimes, but there was nothing out there at all that reflected my personality. So I made my own.”
“BEF were amazing: very interested in what we do and who we help.”
Lyndsay created prototypes by moulding acrylic in her oven, using a wine bottle to shape the handle. “When I started walking with the sticks I'd made, the attention was incredible. That’s why I set up the business – people kept saying, “where did you get it?’”
Lyndsay launched Neo Walk in 2013, offering hand-made walking sticks with bespoke designs, sizes, colours, straps and handles. She used her own savings to finance the firm: “I made the sticks, did the marketing, posted them out and was everything to the business.”
Growth was exponential from 2020. Instead of making six or seven sticks per day, Lyndsay needed to make up to 100 and took on her first members of staff.
People across the globe tell Lyndsay Watterson that her business has changed their life. It all started in her kitchen in York.
A catastrophic MRSA infection in 2007 had caused irreparable damage to Lyndsay’s left leg. Three years later she chose to have it amputated. “I learned to navigate a new normal. Although I was walking with a prosthetic, I did need a walking stick sometimes, but there was nothing out there at all that reflected my personality. So I made my own.”
“BEF were amazing: very interested in what we do and who we help.”
Lyndsay created prototypes by moulding acrylic in her oven, using a wine bottle to shape the handle. “When I started walking with the sticks I'd made, the attention was incredible. That’s why I set up the business – people kept saying, “where did you get it?’”
Lyndsay launched Neo Walk in 2013, offering hand-made walking sticks with bespoke designs, sizes, colours, straps and handles. She used her own savings to finance the firm: “I made the sticks, did the marketing, posted them out and was everything to the business.”
Growth was exponential from 2020. Instead of making six or seven sticks per day, Lyndsay needed to make up to 100 and took on her first members of staff.
