Gareth Davies and Phil Corke

Bison Lock, Bison Security (Wales)Ltd, Wales

The Bison Lock is an anti-theft device designed and built by sheep and beef farmer Gareth Jones, who hails from the foothills of the Brecon Beacons.

Prompted by a spate of thefts in the area, which is heavily dependent on quad bikes for access to the hills, he decided to create a way of preventing dubious characters from taking the local farms essential machinery.

However, due to the age of many of the local farmers, Gareth says the invention had to be easily operated and eliminate climbing and bending over the machine to secure heavy chains.

The Bison Lock is unique on the market in the way it operates. The quad bike is driven onto the platform, which is bolted to the floor. By applying the front brakes, the rear wheels turn a set of rollers which are connected to threaded bar. This pulls a pair of plates into the hubs and firmly grips the bike. To release the bike, reverse is selected and the whole process is reversed.

On top of this mechanical solution, two locks hold the hub plates in place meaning even if the keys to the bike were found by the thieves, the clamps would not release. All this contributes to the product being Sold Secure Gold accredited.

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The judges said about Gareth and Phil: Prompted by a spate of thefts in the area, Gareth & Phil invented this practical device which is unique in design to enable older farmers – who farm around them in the Brecon Hills – to easily operate and navigate this innovative security solution.

On winning, Gareth and Phil said: “To win this award is absolutely amazing. We are so chuffed. Farmers are innovators generally and we like to find solutions to problems. We have our idea and developed over time. It has been hard but now we can help other farmers and it has become really worthwhile. This award really feels like we have made a success of what we have created. “