Innovation Born From A Real-World Need
The story of Breakdown Buddy began one gloomy, rain-soaked afternoon when Gary Aldred was driving home along the motorway. He noticed several families stranded on the roadside after their cars had broken down – waiting in the cold and rain for recovery to arrive, or even worse, sat in their vehicles with their lives at risk. The sight stayed with him, along with the hopeless feeling that he was unable to help them. That evening, Gary imagined a simple but powerful idea: a quick-deployable roadside shelter that every driver could keep in their car, ready for emergencies.
Determined to bring his idea to life, Gary attended a highways safety seminar where he met a serving Highways Officer. After hearing about Gary’s concept, the officer told him it could save hundreds of lives. Inspired by this encouragement, Gary reached out to Cornelius Creative, a leading UK product design company founded by Simon Cornelius, to help design and manufacture the shelter.
Cornelius Creative then partnered with Vango, a world-renowned tent manufacturer and part of the AMG Group, to develop the first prototype and support large-scale production.
Gary believes that collaborating with experts in design and manufacturing has transformed his vision into reality – Breakdown Buddy is now poised to launch its concept at scale and begin saving lives.
