His children's fads give dad enterprising idea

Mar 23 2009 by Karen Dent, The Journal

Mr Weir, whose day job is running family building firm Macoun Construction in Tynemouth, intends to take on two people in the summer to look after Swapcat. He is particularly keen to find a graduate with the experience to take the idea to sports clubs and sporting magazines.

And he has ambitious plans to take the Swapcat concept global if the business takes off in the UK. “We don’t know how successful it’ll be, but we do want to make it as successful as possible,” he said.

“If it is successful in the UK, we would roll it out around the world. Our next port of call would be Ireland.”

He reckons the idea is particularly pertinent in the current economic climate when money is tight and green issues are high on the agenda.

“There’s the recycling element, that’s on a lot of people’s minds these days and obviously, the financial side of things – getting a little bit of money for it,” said Mr Weir “It’s just a waste to go out and buy new every time.”

Swapcat users register free and pay £1 to list products for sale or swap.