Glen Jones, Quick Controls, Bolton

NO slow “coach” when it comes to creating and marketing a winning product.

That’s shrewd Bolton businessman Glen Jones, who has invented Cyber Coach — hailed as the world’s only virtual dance and aerobics instructor.

At the age of 27, Glen has proved he has an old business head on young shoulders.

As managing director of Quick Controls Ltd (QCL), a company launched by his father, Ron, in 1987, Glen predicts that the success of Cyber Coach will be illustrated in the most tangible way.

The company, based at the Britannia Business Park, Bolton, is expected to make £1 million net income before tax, solely on the strength of that product.

QCL was originally formed to sell touch screen systems all over the world and in 1995 it won the Queen’s Award for Exports.

Unfortunately, as touch screens became a commodity item, the business began to struggle.

But salvation came four years ago when Glen joined the business and created Cyber Coach.

Earlier, he had read maths and physics at Bristol University before going on to train and qualify as a chartered and European patents lawyer. But after becoming frustrated with patent work, and seeing an opportunity with the struggling family business, Glen joined and took over QCL.

Currently, the firm is selling about 10-15 Cyber Coaches a month at a £10,000 each.

It uses an interactive dance mat and video instructors, offering a range of games, dances and exercise routines. Glen said: “The Cyber Coach is the world’s only virtual dance and fitness instructor.

“Until January, it was manufactured entirely in Bolton before we outsourced the work to Wrexham. We market it to the leisure centres industry and schools.

“It is currently being developed to impinge on other subject areas, such as languages and maths.”