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Alumni Case Study: LIMB-art

Written by A.R.Fairbank@swansea.ac.uk / Monday 18th October 2021

We recently had the pleasure of catching up with one of our most inspirational Leadership delegate’s, Mr Mark Williams, Founder of LIMB-art, a British design and manufacturing company based in the heart of beautiful North Wales, dedicated to producing cool prosthetic leg covers.

Founded in 2018 by former Paralympic swimmer and medallist, Mark Williams and his wife Rachael, LIMB-art was born out of an overwhelming desire to help other prosthetic users raise their confidence, to be proud of what they have and very simply, but equally importantly to have fun showing off whilst doing so!

Mark’s Journey….

21st June 1982… my life and that of Princess Diana’s were changed forever… and for the better.

Princess Diana gave birth to Prince William and I lost my left leg following a car accident whilst riding my bike home from school. The next 8 years were a whirlwind. I was transformed from a shy 10-year-old boy, who couldn’t swim, into a super-confident athlete winning medals in the pool at the 1988 Seoul Paralympics and 1989 Miami World Championships. The whole experience taught me to look at what you “can do”, not what you can’t, to always drive for perfection and, above all, be proud.

One day in 2017 a small child approached me in a local supermarket wanting to tell me how “cool” my leg looked… I had made a bright green cover with flashing LED lights! At this point, I decided it was time to “give something back.” I pulled together a team of experts to make the ultimate covers on a bigger scale, with a choice for everyone to help them Stand Out and Stand Proud.

Since our launch in spring 2018 we have been amazed at the recognition we have had as a business:

Stelios Entrepreneur Awards Winner – 2018
Conwy Business Awards Winner – 2019 Innovation Business of the Year
Conwy Business Awards Winner – 2019 New Business of the Year
Wales Business Awards Winner – 2019 New Manufacturer of the Year
SME Awards Winner – 2019 Social Business of the Year
Daily Post Business Awards Winner – 2019 Start-up of the Year
Great British Entrepreneur Awards Winner - 2020 Entrepreneurial Spirit Award
Welsh Enterprise Awards Winner – 2021 SME
Wales Prestige Awards Winner – 2021 Innovative Product Manufacturer of the year
Great British Entrepreneur Awards Finalist - 2021 Entrepreneur for Good (Winner announcement in September)
Great British Entrepreneur Awards Finalist - 2021 Made in the UK (Winner announcement in September)
Wales Startup Awards Finalist - 2021 Manufacturer of the Year (Winner announcement in September)

But all these accolades pale into insignificance when we compare them to the words and comments from our customers, such as:

“This leg cover has changed my life.”
“This cover gives me so much more confidence.”
“This cover makes me complete.”

The awards make us smile, but the customer comments make us well up with pride. This success has now helped us gain acceptance from NHS Wales who have added our covers to their options for all Welsh Amputees. NHS England is soon to follow this move in the coming weeks, with Wirral NHS offering limb-art covers to their patients already. This is a massive step forward and goes some way to help the 6000 new amputees in the UK each year.

Why did you choose to enrol on the ION Leadership Programme?

Although I had 25 years experience of in leadership, it had all been with one company so as I set off starting my own business, I wanted a sense check that what I had learnt over the years was correct.

What did you get out of the ION Leadership Programme?

Not only did I get a sense check that what I knew already was right, but I learnt so many new ways of looking at leadership, fully understanding leadership and more importantly understanding what kind of leader I am.