AVM Display Ltd was formed in October 2001.

The idea for the Discvision came much earlier however.

Interview by Harvey Kennett :

It’s a warm sunny day as I drive over to the home of Adam and Helen Gregory, the driving force behind AVM Display Ltd. 

I’ve barely stepped through the front door, when Adam comes bounding up to greet me, his trademark smile and countless enthusiasm never ceasing to amaze me.

We pass through in to the garden, to make the most of the unpredictable British weather, and I’ve barely sat down to unpack my laptop before Helen’s warm generosity offers me an ice cold beer. From the mood they are both in, I think that my laptop will not need any mains power today !

Harvey: “Adam, how did it all start ?”

Adam (laughing): “Well, Archimedes had his brainwave in the bath. I decided to expand upon the theme and had mine on the beach !”

Harvey: “You were on holiday ?”

Adam: “Yes. Relaxing on the sand. It came to me in a sudden flash of inspiration.  It was such a simple idea with almost limitless boundaries, that it seemed almost too good to be true.”

Harvey: “What happened next ?”

Adam: “Well, as you can imagine, I spent the rest of the holiday thinking about the concept, testing its validity and marketability over and over again in my mind.”

Harvey: “What happened after the holiday ?”

Adam: “I sat about testing the idea with friends, family,even strangers in the street. To me, feedback was crucial, the more the better. The concept grabbed people completely. They liked the idea of displaying their CD’s in a frame on their walls. The idea was sound.”

Harvey: “What about putting the idea in to practice ?”

Adam: “That proved far harder than I imagined. In the UK, the market for funding innovation is nearly impossible to penetrate, and my ideas initially fell upon deaf ears. It was so frustrating trying to bring my concept to market, that I eventually decided to self-finance the venture.”

Harvey (amazed) : “You decided, to use the expression, “To put your money where your mouth is ? “ “

Adam: “Yes. I took the initiative to commission a design consultant who specialises in helping struggling inventors turn their ideas in to reality.”

Harvey: “What did he think of the idea ?”

Adam: “He was straightforward…brutally so. He said that the idea had considerable merit and marketability, but without a suitable design, it would fail to captivate people’s imaginations.”

Harvey: “Was this a stumbling block ?”

Adam : “Initially yes, so I worked non-stop to overcome this hurdle and in tandem with the designer, we came up with a design that that not only pleasing to the eye, but also practical in terms of use and function.”

Helen: “It had to be easy to operate, yet be worthwhile having. Traditional CD stands are functional, but limited in their design. We wanted to turn that concept on it’s head and say “You can having something to store your CD’s on, but why settle for 99% of the designs that already exist ? Go for something different !””

Harvey: “Were you not worried that somebody might copy your design ?”

Adam: “Of course. Imitation will always follow a great idea, but I took professional advice and consulted Patent Agents in London. The result is that now the Discvision has a UK Patent Pending and Worldwide Patents are going through the proper channels.”

Harvey: “Adam, what’s the next stage ?”

Adam: “We need to get confirmed interest in the idea. Some idea of numbers of potential customers. We know they are out there, we just need something tangible to make production a reality. The set-up cost alone to commission the first production run is nearly £20,000 !”

Harvey (falling of his chair) “20K ! That’s a small fortune !”

Helen: “Yes…and one it looks like we’re going to have to cover ourselves…but in the long run, it’ll be worth it.”

Harvey (turning to Helen) : “Helen. What do you make of the idea ? How do you fit in to all of this ?”

Helen: “Well, as far as the idea goes, I’m committed to it as much as Adam. My background is in Accounting, where I work for a prestigious and well-known Accountancy Company in London. In between raising 2 young children, I fill in the VAT return and more importantly act as a sounding board for Adam, listening and directing the thoughts of the ambitious inventor (Adam laughs).

Harvey: “Most people would have given up by now…it sounds like too much hard work.”

Helen: “It is, but when you have belief in an idea, you can either see it through to completion or give up trying. NASA saw it through to the end and landed men on the moon. Giving up was simply not an option.”

Harvey: “Thank you Adam, thank you Helen.” 

I pack my laptop away, and say a fond farewell to Adam and Helen.

I drive though the leafy suburbs of Chelmsford and arrive home, inspired to listen to my favourite CD, a signed album called “Dark Side Of The Moon” by Pink Floyd. I reach a state of panic, as it’s buried in a pile of other CD’s and take me a while to find. Half ashamed, I locate the album tucked between a CD Single of Barbie Girl by Aqua and a Computer Cover Disc CD from a magazine. Sheepishly I pull out what has to be one of the most prized CD’s in my collection and slip it in to the player.

As the psychedelic sounds begin to fill the room, I look at the empty, featureless space on my living room wall and long for the day that Pink Floyd can say goodbye to their Barbie Bedfellows forever…