“I’d had a list of product ideas for around 20 years and hadn’t followed through on them,” says Jason Wilkinson, Director of Rivendale Homes and Rivendale Products. “I’ve gradually crossed them off one by one as someone brought similar products to market. To my amazement though, nobody ever came up with a better hose connector, which is incredible really.

“Eventually we decided to run with a few different ideas for home-based gadgets. The first one we looked at around five years ago, but it took a little more time than we’d imagined. Then in 2020 the pandemic hit and people were summoned to stay at home throughout the spring and summer. This meant people spent much more time in their gardens. This was when, we decided to put everything else on the back burner and focus on designing Qwickhose®.”

Making home life better

“My background is in the building industry,” Jason explains when asked what led him down this path. “In our main business, Rivendale Homes, 99% of what we do is build new homes. We identify land, obtain planning permission through the local council, then once that’s granted the build begins. The whole process is very satisfying from beginning to end.

“We started that business in 2000. It’s a really fulfilling process finding the land then gradually turning it into a lovely development for professionals and families to call home.

“A lot of the product ideas I’ve had over the years are linked to either that industry directly, or to improving people’s home lives. There’s always been that passion there for homemaking in all its forms. That’s really the link to product design and Qwickhose®.”

The problem with typical garden hose fittings

“The traditional hose connector has always been a particular bugbear of ours,” says Qwickhose® Business Development Manager Michelle Doughty. “They have those fiddly, standard teeth-based hose connections that pop off very easily. If you bend one of the teeth and it snaps off – which, more often than not happens – the whole thing has to go in the bin.

“It just simply doesn’t work,” she says. “It doesn’t last. We wanted to create something that was much more usable, and would stand the test of time – so people don’t have to keep buying replacements. This very reason alone, makes the Qwickhose® connector more cost effective and environmentally friendly, as they are robust and built to last much longer than the standard connectors!

That might not sound like great business sense on our part, but we believe that if you make a great product, people will take notice.”

Designing a great product, however, is no straightforward process. Indeed, the Rivendale team went on a whole design journey before landing on the final look, feel and functionality that Qwickhose® launched with.

The Qwickhose® design journey

“The design process is quite exciting!” beams Becci Brisland, Rivendale’s Operations Manager. “If you look at Jason’s first drawing of the idea on a piece of paper, you’ll probably laugh,” she smiles. “But when we sent it off to our product design team and received the first coloured renders back, it started becoming real.”

“It’s a very iterative process,” adds Jason. “The design team sent over three options, and we took bits we liked from each and asked product development to run with those. We then received a 3D printed prototype and realised things didn’t necessarily clip on the way we’d envisaged and needed adjustment. It took a few passes through that cycle over many, many months, until we were happy that we could bring to market something that was suitably different, and significantly better than what was already out there.”

But what exactly is it that makes Qwickhose® so unique compared to other hose fittings and connectors.

The innovations behind Qwickhose®

“Our unique selling point over typical garden hose fittings is its clamping method,” says Jason. It’s longer than standard hose connectors and has what we call a winged clamping system, which secures your hose in place, replacing the frustrating breakable teeth system we’ve all become so familiar with.

“The extra size means that the connector acts as a handle as it is much longer than a typical connector, giving you more grip. The inner-tube and winged clamping system creates a much better base for the hose to remain secure. Once the hose is in place, you simply clamp the wings shut, and screw on a nut from underneath to secure the fitting. The whole thing takes seconds, and it’s so incredibly easy that a child could do it.”

“We’ve designed our other products in the Qwickhose® range to fit in with the hose connector,” explains Michelle. “The Starter Set includes a wall mount, a tap connector, the hose connector, the No-Flow hose connector and a twist nozzle spray gun for watering the garden.”

“While the wing clamping system is our big innovation, we didn’t think people would want to use that alongside their other water hose fittings and adapters,” Michelle continues. “Instead, we wanted to create a premium range that people would be proud of; that all matched, worked well and looked great together hanging on the wall.”

Who can Qwickhose® benefit?

Asked who Qwickhose® has been designed for, Jason half shrugs and smiles. “Pretty much everyone with an outside tap!”

“It is also well suited to the older generation, who maybe spend more time at home, taking pride in their gardens. It’s far less fiddly to fit, so for anyone who has problems with their eyes or hands, it’s going to make life much easier.”

“Having said that, it’s a nice product to use for everyone,” adds Michelle. “We think the younger generation will prefer to use it too. It even has a wall mount, allowing people to keep their gardens neat and tidy. We know people are spending more money on their gardens since lockdown, and Qwickhose® is designed to help with that, both in terms of how usable it is and also how it looks when it’s stored away. And because there are no teeth to break, it’s also a longer-lasting product.”

“Ultimately it’s about making everything, from watering your garden, to cleaning the car, or even hosing down your muddy dog, a more pleasurable experience,” says Jason. We’ve called the brand ‘Qwick’ for a reason. No having your new garden hose leaking at the connection. No fiddling with broken teeth or searching for replacement heads. Whatever you use your water hose fittings and adapters for, Qwickhose® makes it quicker and easier. Just push the hose on to the inner-tube, close the wings firmly, screw the nut to secure, and away you go.”

A true UK business

“It’s also incredibly important to us that Qwickhose® is a fully British product,” says Michelle. “Some manufacturers have their products created overseas and then put together in the UK. We design, build and assemble everything here. We’ve designed Qwickhose® to make British homemaking a breeze, and we believe in keeping our business firmly at home.”

“Those family values are at the heart of everything we do,” adds Becci. “We’ve built our property development business on them, and with Qwickhose® we’re promising a robust, British-built product with responsive customer care built in, too. So if you do have a problem with any Qwickhose® products – don’t hesitate to contact us!”

What next for Rivendale and Qwickhose®?

“The range is always growing,” says Becci. “We’re always working on the next thing to add to the Qwickhose® range, and we’re developing even more products for the future to help people around the home.”

“As Qwickhose® goes,” says Jason, “we have ideas for more garden water hose fittings and adapters. These include a sprinkler system and a multi-spray gun, that will be more unique and in keeping with our innovative winged hose connector.

“Where Rivendale Products in general are concerned, we want to bring more products outside of the Qwickhose® range to market in the next few years. Our focus is on making premium products that are easy and quick to use, but are robust and long-lasting. High-quality UK-made items that people will be proud of.”

Change the way you use your garden hose forever

Find out more about the Qwickhose® range here or get in touch with any questions.