About The JetRest®
Where It All Started
The JetRest® is more than just a travel pillow.
It is the product that started our business.
Today, Clear Prospects Ltd operates a number of specialist websites and brands, manufactures a wide range of textile products in the UK and supplies both consumers and trade customers. But none of that existed when Michael Robinson came up with the idea for The JetRest®.
The story began with a problem that was very personal.
From Travelling the World to Designing a Better Travel Pillow
In 1994, Michael Robinson was 24 and had left an eight-year career with Barclays Bank to go backpacking around the world.
Over the following year he travelled extensively, including numerous flights and thousands of miles by coach across countries including India and Australia.
And like millions of other travellers, he discovered that sleeping while travelling wasn't particularly comfortable.
The inflatable U-shaped travel pillows that were widely available simply didn't work for him. They were awkward, uncomfortable and didn't provide the support he wanted.
Michael believed there had to be a better way.
Rather than accept what was already available, he decided to design something himself.
The Idea Behind The JetRest®
Michael's idea was surprisingly simple.
Instead of trying to wrap a pillow around the neck, why not create a pillow that would support the head and help prevent it from falling forward while sleeping?
The result was an unusual L-shaped travel pillow designed to work with the body's own weight.
But the shape was only part of the solution.
Michael wanted The JetRest® to feel like a proper pillow rather than an inflatable travel accessory. That meant finding the right soft fabric and, just as importantly, the right filling.
After months of searching, a UK manufacturer was found producing a super-soft, springy fibre suitable for the pillow. The finished design combined the L-shaped support with soft fabrics and a comfortable filling.
The JetRest® was born.
From One Travel Pillow to a UK Manufacturing Business
The JetRest® was launched online at the turn of the millennium, becoming the first product manufactured by what would become Clear Prospects Ltd.
What began on a very small scale grew into a genuine UK manufacturing business.
The company established its own textile manufacturing operation in Blackburn, Lancashire, and began producing The JetRest® itself rather than simply sourcing and reselling an existing product.
The business initially had a tiny sewing operation — but the success of The JetRest® created the opportunity to develop much more.
The range expanded into travel accessories including luggage straps, eye masks and personalised travel products.
And the company itself continued to grow.
A Product That Has Travelled a Long Way
The JetRest® has now been sold to customers around the world.
At various points in its history, the product has been supplied to retailers and trade customers as well as being sold directly online. The company's own history records sales into more than 40 countries worldwide.
The original concept has also remained remarkably consistent.
A soft, comfortable travel pillow with a distinctive L-shaped design that helps support the head while travelling by plane, train, coach or car.
The Original JetRest® remains manufactured in the UK today.
Still Made in Britain
One of the things that has remained important to us throughout the history of The JetRest® is manufacturing in the UK.
The original JetRest® Travel Pillow is still made in our own manufacturing operation in Blackburn, Lancashire.
That means we retain control over how the product is made, from the fabrics and filling through to sewing and finishing.
Our investment in textile manufacturing has also allowed us to develop new versions of The JetRest®, different fabrics, colours and personalised designs.
What started as one travel pillow has become a much broader range of travel accessories and personalised travel gifts.
The Beginning of Clear Prospects Ltd
The JetRest® was the beginning of Clear Prospects Ltd.
Michael Robinson founded the business around the launch of The JetRest®, and the company subsequently developed its own UK manufacturing operation.
From those early beginnings, Clear Prospects has gone on to manufacture many different fabric-based products and sell them both directly to consumers and to trade customers.
The company's other consumer brands include WheatyBags® and HappySnapGifts®, while BMPM® provides its British-made promotional merchandise operation to the trade.
But The JetRest® remains where the story began.
The Person Behind The JetRest®
The JetRest® was designed by Michael Robinson, founder of Clear Prospects Ltd.
The product came directly from his own experiences travelling and his frustration with the travel pillows available at the time.
Michael's approach was simple: identify a problem, design something that solves it, manufacture it properly and then put it in front of customers.
That philosophy has remained at the heart of the business ever since.
Connect with Michael Robinson on LinkedIn
More Than 25 Years Later...
A lot has changed since the first JetRest® was made.
The company now has its own textile manufacturing facilities, digital printing technology, multiple specialist websites and a much wider range of products.
But the fundamental idea behind The JetRest® hasn't changed.
Make something useful. Make it comfortable. Make it properly. And, wherever possible, make it here in Britain.
The Original JetRest® Travel Pillow continues to be manufactured in the UK and remains the product that started everything.
So when you buy a JetRest®, you're not simply buying a travel pillow.
You're buying a small piece of our history.
Thank You
More than two decades after The JetRest® first appeared, we are still here making products in Britain and sending them to customers around the world.
Thank you for supporting a small British manufacturing business — and for taking The JetRest® with you on your travels.
The JetRest®
Designed from experience. Made in Britain. Travelling the world.
