Luminanz, Westhoughton

INVENTOR Morton Graham is so convinced that his revolutionary take on the humble light bulb will put all others in the shade that he turned down £1 million for his patents.

The incandescent lightbulb is being phased out, followed by halogen bulbs, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) will light the future.

Mr Graham’s technology softens the harsh, bright LED light, making it more uniform. It can be used in the home, factory, mobile home, office or hospital — in fact, anywhere.

Mr Graham said his gadget fitted to an LED will slash electricity bills by up to 70 per cent, last up to 20 years or 50,000 hours, is mercury-free and can be disposed of easily.

He said: “I turned down £1 million for two of my patents from a major traditional bulb manufacturer because I feel there is a lighting revolution under way. Ideally, I would love to see a company setting up in Bolton making these lights.”

Technical Director Dr Neil Haigh, said: “With Luminanz, you never see the LED directly, nor do we need to screen the LED away from the observer by hiding it behind a diffuser.

“We have lights installed in Manchester Airport, the head office of one of the world’s largest fast-food chain of restaurants and we have advertising boards in London and Liverpool.

“Our products are dimmable and colour tuneable and we feel the market for this technology is huge.

“We are also networking with half-a-dozen North West-based SMEs, each in their own key technology discipline, whom we partner and use to create a large virtual company working for a combined cause.

“This is a very exciting business model and allows us to compete with big companies from a small SME base.”