Budding entrepreneur David Lowe believes the backing he has received with his invention ’could only have been achieved in the Isle of Man’.

Father-of-two Mr Lowe, aged 53, from Union Mills has come up with a device he has called the Whizz Wizard.

The ’Wizard’ helps in the washing of footwear such as trainers and football boots.

The dirty or smelly footwear is placed inside the Whizz Wizard, which is then placed inside the washing machine drum.

He said the whole thing moves with the drum which eliminates the ’annoying banging and clunking and protects the footwear and the machine too’.

And the shoes come out quite dry and not sitting in the water in the bottom of the drum.

Mr Lowe told Business News: ’This has been a long journey and a huge learning curve but I have found that the support of the Manx people in many different areas has been incredible.

’From the Isle of Man Government new business start up scheme, the support of the Manx people at local sporting events and the good old word of mouth or island skeet.

’In my opinion this could only have been achieved in the Isle of Man.’

He is also full of praise for the island-based McKenzie Trust which offers help to stimulate and encourage entrepreneurs of any age to start up or expand businesses.

Trained engineer Mr Lowe is a self-confessed DIY and home handyman fanatic and said that when he gets the seed of an idea ’I am like a dog with a bone, i just won’t let go’.

He had been fighting the challenge of coming up with something like the ’wizard’ for some time after becoming increasingly frustrated by the noise generated when his sons’ trainers were put in the washing machine.

’I thought there had to be something better than placing footwear in an old pillow in the washing machine.’

He added: ’I hate things that don’t work.’

The battle to come up with his invention took several years.

His wife Dawn lends a hand with some of his social media work promoting the ’Wizard.’ Sons William, aged 13, and Harvey, 17, are delighted with their dad’s ingenuity.

His mentor from the Department for Enterprise’s small business scheme also put in an order for a Whizz Wizard.

The PVC products are made in China.

Mr Lowe has used a patent lawyer and is in contact with the Intellectual Property (IP) office in London.

In the meantime he says he has one or two ideas for future inventions but these are firmly under wraps for now.