How a loveable robot turned a Shrewsbury couple's lives around
A Shrewsbury couple who work together on their own business, have shared how they fell in love - with a cute little robot - for Valentine's Day.
When hard-working ex-forces helicopter engineer Andy Laverton suffered a short bout of depression in 2022, he found sanctuary in his garden shed by making robots out of scrap metal.
The loveable little robots he designed not only helped him to regain his mental health, but they also sparked an idea that changed the couple’s lives.
Andy, 60 and his wife Lotty, 61, now sell their bespoke robot sculptures, christened The Berts, on their own Weebert’s World website as well as nicely designed merchandise including T-shirts and prints.
Former public sector worker Lotty was so taken with the character they named after her grandfather Bert, she wrote a book about it and Weebert’s adventures were brought to life.
The Shrewsbury-based couple, who now dedicate themselves full-time to the business, are working with an animation company to pitch their idea for a children’s TV series. The show will feature Weebert using fun stories to demystify science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for a new generation.
Lotty said: “As I watched the numbers of scrap art robot sculptures made by Andy grow, they just naturally became our new focus in so many ways.
“I began to realise each one was different, with its own personality. I just knew I had to tell their stories, so I picked up a pen and paper and the stories of Weebert and his adventures poured onto the pages.
“STEM subjects are central to Weebert – he's all about understanding science and he was born out of Andy’s need to express himself through his brilliant engineering skills.
“We felt he would be perfect to help create a spark in young minds and nurture a deep curiosity for STEM subjects from as early as pre-school.”
There was just one problem – the couple had no business experience.
They set about increasing their skills and joined small business community Enterprise Nation and used the resources on the website including Vodafone’s business.connected, a free training programme including webinars, workshops and e-learning modules to learn as much as they could to kickstart the digital side of the business.
Lotty said: “We knew we were onto something, but we really had no idea where to start. We worked through the workshops and e-learning, we spent most lunchtimes on webinars and linked up to advisers who helped us get started. “We also found our production company via the programme.”
Emma Jones, CBE, founder and CEO of small business support platform Enterprise Nation, said: “This is a wonderful story to hear and demonstrates how entrepreneurship can enrich people’s lives at any stage in their career and sometimes when you least expect it.
“They knew they needed to boost their skills to give themselves the best chance to build and grow their business. We are seeing more and more people starting businesses with a strong sense of community purpose.
“Tools like business.connected are helping to bring these businesses, literally to life.”
More than 1.7 million UK small and medium sized enterprises - a fifth of the UK’s total business population - have upskilled their digital capabilities thanks to the free range of business resources and guidance available through the Vodafone Business V-Hub and business.connected online service.
Vodafone launched V-Hub in 2020 to help businesses expedite their digital transformation efforts after the Covid-19 pandemic, with many businesses being forced to transition their operations online. Free to access, V-Hub features an expansive library of business resources covering everything from setting up a new website, managing a business online, marketing and cybersecurity. In addition, users can also speak with a V-Hub adviser for tailored business guidance, either on the phone or online – free of charge. Fast forward and Weebert’s World is ready to go, even his intellectual property (IP) is trademarked.
Lotty added: “That’s another thing we had no idea we needed to do and found out via the business.connected programme. “We can’t wait to see where Weebert takes us next.”
