The founder of a manufacturer of adult and electric scooters has spoken of his pain after the business went into liquidation.
Jason Iftakhar founded Swifty Scooters in 2010 with his wife Camilla to design and manufacture adult scooters and transformed it into a global brand.
The husband-and-wife team both graduated from The Royal College of Art in 2005 and originally joined forces to launch Jamily Design Studios in 2008.
Manchester-based Swifty Scooters followed three years later and was best known for producing the world鈥檚 first premium folding kick scooter SwiftyONE.
The couple were inspired by the success of their early prototypes, which they used to get around London, and their products quickly appealed to commuters.
CEO Jason hand-built and assembled the original SwiftyONE in their workshop and attracted customers from across the globe.
SwiftyONE was followed by the commuter scooter, the SwiftyZero, and the off-road adult kick scooter, the SwiftyAir.
The company won a series of high-profile collaborations, including The Conran Shop, and a string of awards.
Swifty Scooters, among the , finished runner-up in the prestigious 2016 Venturefest Manchester and went on to win a string of awards including the Best Start-Up 2023 at Micromobility Industries summit in San Francisco.
However they called in liquidators in the middle of last year.
Jason Iftakhar said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very tough time for startups at the moment in the UK. I must admit there are very tempting things and stories happening overseas. It is tempting to consider. If we lose more of our entrepreneurs and innovators what will happen to the business community?
鈥淲e should be pulling out all the stops and encouraging more inventors, dreamers and builders of things, stuff and tech to shoot for the stars. We need people with jobs, they are the best consumers which pumps liquidity back into the system and drives growth.”
Writing on LinkedIn, he admitted: 鈥�2024 was a rough one. After a decade building, hustling, innovating, laughing and sometimes on the brink of crying, Swifty Scooters Ltd was sadly to be no more.
鈥淭his a public thankyou to all our investors, partners, staff, suppliers and dealers over the last 14 years. We have made some wonderful friends and collected a bunch of amazing memories.
鈥淚t鈥檚 taken a while to come to terms with losing all that we built but that鈥檚 life and business.
鈥�2025 will be the year of reinvention for me. Keen to help other businesses dodge our mistakes, utilise our knowledge and ultimately innovate and grow.
鈥淚鈥檓 in the process of rebuilding our design and business studio and will be publicly offering consulting services very soon. For the clients we have already started work with your first in line don鈥檛 worry. Onwards and upwards for the future. 聽No regrets.鈥�