The Inspiration

In 2008, Pete Higgins, CEO and inventor of the UWI Timer, was making lunch for his son and couldn’t remember when he had first opened a jar of mayonnaise. “Is it still safe to use?” he wondered. Like so many of us with our children’s food, he wasn’t willing to risk it and threw it out. “What a waste! Surely there must be a better way?” he thought.

That was the spark that gave him the idea for the UWI Timer. 

He imagined a visual timer which automatically activates as you open a container for the first time, meaning there’s no need to remember when you opened it.

As a designer, Pete has a passion for keeping things simple and elegant whilst maintaining their function.

He imagined a simple, visual colour indicator, meaning you could tell at a glance: green for good, red for bad.

Since then, Pete has built the UWI team and overseen the technical development of the timer itself, which it has gone on to win many awards.