What is your product?

It is called MemoryGift. Essentially, it is a product which allows individuals or groups of friends to collect their favourite memories of a person, put them into a customised Story Collector (a bound book) and present it to the person. The gift can be personalised to mark 14 different occasions - from a special birthday, retirement, anniversary or even in remembrance of someone who has died.

In a way, it could be described as This Is Your Life Meets the Filofax?

It is much more than that. We carried out extensive research into what makes the perfect gift. We drew up 30 points on what makes the perfect gift and compared our product to flowers, diamonds and a Ferrari. Ours was the only one which ticked all the boxes. Giving someone a MemoryGift is giving them an account of their life as seen by others, recalling all their favourite memories of each other. Friends can even collaborate online to compile their recollections.

How did you come up with this idea?

I was born in Belfast but worked in England for many years as a marketing consultant, specialising in new product development for other people. One night, 22 years ago, shortly after moving to Hampshire, I was in the golf club talking to the editor of the local newspaper. I told him there was nothing in the world that couldn't be improved. He took a pewter tankard - the sort that is presented as a trophy - off the bar shelf and said " improve that".

I must admit that I didn't give it a great deal of thought ... I came up with a rather tacky trophy of a golfer putting a ball into a hole. But it started me thinking about what people really want to mark special occasions. A little pewter tankard doesn't really hit the mark.

What they want is to be able to recall the occasion, the friends they shared it with and recollections of what they did. It was then I started thinking about the product we have today.

Why has it taken so long to develop?

Like all products, you keep coming across problems which need to be solved. I was originally going to launch it at one of the Open Golf tournaments in the tented village, but I kept taking it out of the attic and then putting it back in again until I had solved the latest problem. This went on for about 17 years, until 1999, when I decided I would have to seriously address the issue.

Who is the product aimed at?

It is suitable for everyone, but I expect the first people to take it up will be the ABC1s. Mintel, the big market research company, sees the product as having the potential to become a unifying product in a fragmented gift market which is worth around £20bn in the UK market alone. We would be very happy with just a small slice of that.

Where can people get the product?

It has just gone on sale in 41 of the largest Clinton Cards and Easons outlets in England, Scotland and both parts of Ireland. I launched it at the Spring Fair at the NEC in Birmingham and it got a fantastic reception from retailers, both in the UK and from abroad. It is a product which can be exported easily.

The great thing was watching people coming onto the stand and begin to smile when they picked up the product and realised what it was. We all want to remember the special occasions in our lives and the people we shared them with.

Has development of the product been difficult?

It has been a big sacrifice, especially for my family. My wife Sandra died seven years ago of a heart attack. She was my inspiration and kept me going during all the years of thinking about this product. She was most certainly the force that allowed me to keep on with it.

I have three children, two daughters and a son. One is in sixth form and the other two in the early part of their careers. They have had to do all that without their mum, while I have been working on this product.

I must also pay tribute to the purchasing directors of Clintons and Easons, who have encouraged me all along the line. They believed it was a product with value. However, at the end of the day, it is the consumer who has to part with their money to buy it and that is the acid test.

Details of the product can be seen at www.memorygiftstories.com