Meet the founders of The Inhaler Tailor who developed 'fun' cases to encourage people to use their inhalers

"Nobody likes using an inhaler,” he said. “There are millions of people who have to use them but they still feel a bit awkward and a bit nerdy. People who should be using one often avoid it, especially kids and teenagers.”

He added: “My friend’s daughter has severe asthma. She spent about a week in a coma a couple of years ago and she hated using her inhaler. It was at that point that I thought this just seems crazy. There must be something to make it easier.”

The idea for The Inhaler Tailor was born in 2021 when Mr Hogge set about creating a fun prototype case to fit over the most common type of inhaler and he gave it to the little girl.

"She started using a unicorn case and it totally changed the way she perceived her inhaler from being a medical device to something more fun,” he said.

After realising there was an untapped market for inhaler cases, Mr Hogge, who was running a software division at a robotics company, decided to leave his job and set up his own business.

However, it wasn’t without its challenges. Although Mr Hogge handmakes all the cases himself from his home in York, he needed help to tweak the design of the stretchy silicone part that fits over the mouthpiece.

He said: “I left my job with an assurance from the product development company that it would be ready within three months. Eighteen months later I was still waiting. It was a nightmare. I ended up with another agency who completed the work within six weeks.”

Mr Hogge developed the product with guidance from the British Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to ensure it was safe and easy to use.

After two years of working on the business alone, last September Mr Hogge was joined by his wife, Harriet, a marketing manager at Haribo.

"Will went viral on TikTok with a demonstration video that got over three million views and I found it hard watching from the sidelines and not helping him make the most of it so I decided to join the business,” she said.

The couple, who have two children, have sold almost 10,000 cases to-date from multiple sales channels including TikTok, Etsy and Amazon as well as their own website.

There are 36 different patterns to choose from, for both adults and children, which fit four common inhaler types. They are working on cases for futher inhaler types as well as cases for inhaler spacers.

"I thought the business was going to be simple with a handful of inhaler types but when you start doing anything it becomes much more complicated,” Mr Hogge said. “We’re constantly working on product innovation.”

Each product comes in a metal tin, which protects the case, is possible to give as a gift, fit through a letter box and is fully-recyclable.

They are currently working on packaging to sell in pharmacies and other physical stores and have ambitions to scale the business, take on staff and obtain a licence for Disney designs. Mrs Hogge said: “We’re not a massive operation, we’re not building five-year business plans yet. Everything we’re talking about is within the next 12 months.”