In his own words, James Leckey is a born inventor. Creativity and an enthusiasm for engineering are his biggest passions.
e says he loved to "take things apart, see how they worked and put them back together again".
Even growing up with the family florist business, he somehow managed to turn flower-arranging into an invention. Eventually he won an award for an invention to make transportation of flowers easier.
"I was meant to do this, I'm meant to be here," he says, discussing his latest invention, which he says will revolutionise personal protective equipment (PPE).
Hi Viso is just one of many medical inventions that will be part of his new business.
It's a reusable, all-in-one face and neck guard with a design that offers full face visibility. The business say it's "suitable for client facing settings and where social distancing cannot be achieved" including schools, care homes and other work settings.
James is best known as the founder and former owner of James Leckey Designs, which makes mobility products for children with special needs.
He sold the 37-year-old business earlier this year to German company Sunrise Medical.
He says: "It was time to sell. We needed a partner to go further and then we came across Sunrise and they were so enthusiastic and they wanted to own the business, but it took me around three years to make that decision.
"I sold it when I got to the point where I thought, I'm holding this back."
Now the firm is led by Ben Stocks, a former managing director at Chain Reaction Cycles.
"I still have close contact with the business and we have a great relationship and Ben is an excellent CEO," says James.
He is still landlord of the building where the business operates.
James grew up on the Ravenhill Road in east Belfast.
He went to Methodist College leaving shortly after completing his O-levels.
He adds: "I don't know why academia didn't appeal to me,
"I just wanted to be out working, inventing."
He began his career as an apprentice on the shop floor at James Mackie and Sons.
At its height, the famous textile machinery plant and foundry employed 7,000 people.
He left there to work with his father in the family florists, a trade carried on by his brother Alan who runs Leckey and Golden on the Saintfield Road.
In 1983 he founded Leckey Design, which designed and manufactured equipment including standing frames and walkers to improve the quality of life for children with special needs.
That began in his garage and within a decade the business was a market leader, exporting globally.
In 2010, Leckey acquired and developed a new facility in Lisburn, placing all operations at one location.
While running a marathon and raising funds for Mencap, James saw the devices and products used by families of children with needs.
It sparked an interest in working to help parents and their children by making even better adaptive equipment for their children.
He created Firefly, a brand that's still central to the lives of parents of children with special needs.
It has created revolutionary products for young people with disabilities including like the mobility aid 'Scoot and Ride' and the Firefly Upsee, an upright mobility harness for children who cannot walk.
Firefly was sold as part of Leckey Design.
And while James may no longer be at the helm of Leckey Design, he says he will continue to invent from his home in Lisburn, as well as looking after his hobby farm of donkeys and one remaining alpaca.
Yesterday he lost George, partner to Mildred the alpaca.
"Mildred is a bit lost today," he says.
""We did have a bigger herd but recently lost a couple. They're great animals to have.
"We've been doing it for 10 years and it's great fun but when you go through a spate of losing them, it puts a different shape on it."
But that's not to say he won't revisit having a bigger herd in the future, when work quietens down
"We are both very busy now but they are beautiful animals and down the line we may look at that again."
James' new firm, Hi Viso, is "in the embryonic stage". But he says there is a pipeline of products or release in the near future, some of which "can do exceptional things for other target audiences".
"During lockdown all of our designers went home and we turned our minds to PPE. There were PPE shortage conversations going on everywhere and I felt that the PPE being used wasn't going to really provide the necessary protection. The filtration quality wasn't there either, and while I'm an advocate of face masks, we wanted to create something that addressed issues like facial contact and also that issue around not being able to see people's faces and expressions.
"Like so many households my wife Jayne and I would watch the news every day during the start of the first lockdown and we could not believe that masks and visors were the best solution for everyone - there had to be something more comfortable and durable that gave full-face visibility.
"We could see there was a need for more effective face protection that didn't irritate the wearer and immediately got to work with rapid prototyping and trials with local designers and professionals."
"Hi Viso has full face visibility as well as filtration that is built into the neck scarf," he adds.
The product was created through a series of conversations and back and forth with the design team via WhatsApp and other online communication apps and programmes.
"It really energised us and it was a day and night creation," says James.
He says he is pleased by customer feedback, and even in the earliest stages of sales, he is exporting Hi Viso as far afield as New Zealand.
The company has partnered with Usel, which helps people with disabilities or health conditions gain employment in Northern Ireland, on the production and distribution of Hi Viso.
Locally, 550 units have gone to Belfast Metropolitan College, while Rathmore Grammar School in South Belfast has also invested in the product. A further 300 plus units are being used by beauticians, hairdressers, hospitality.
"We're focusing on two key areas, the UK and the south. The target audience, which receives the greatest benefits, includes education and close contact services like nursing homes and people like that," he says.
"Education settings where work is mostly practical really makes use of the product and we are seeing that."
There are three people working at Hi Viso with recruitment on the horizon as sales grow and the product line expands.
James and his team are working consistently to invent new products, he says, adding that he is where he is meant to be right now, inventing.
And in spite of the challenges of a pandemic, James is very hopeful for the future.
"These are very exciting times for designers and inventors."
