Clockwork radio's inventor plans float

TREVOR Baylis, the veteran inventor best-known for creating the clockwork radio, is planning to float his incubator company on the Stock Exchange.

The company, Trevor Baylis Brands, aims to encourage a 'culture of invention' by helping people with bright ideas to avoid many of the legal and commercial pitfalls he experienced when bringing his own inventions to market.

Formed last September, it has already signed contractual agreements with more than 200 inventors, each of whom has paid a nominal £100 for the company's services.

A prospectus to take the company public is in the final stages of preparation and the initial public offering is expected within a month. The company will be floated on the 535X share trading platform - a cost-effective way of securing liquidity in the shares of small, unquoted companies.

Trevor Baylis Brands was established by Baylis and three colleagues - David Bunting, chief executive, is a former head of France Telecom's UK arm; Lynn Miller is operations director; and Robert Fairhall is commercial director. The four have so far funded the company themselves.

Inventors who use its services and become commercially successful will be expected to pay a percentage of their net profits.