One of the co-founders of Bath global success story Lovehoney is teeing up a new business venture – this time in the more conservative world of golf.
Richard Longhurst started sexual wellness firm Lovehoney in 2002 with £4,500 savings after leaving his job as a magazine editor at Future Publishing in Bath.
By the time Richard, pictured, and co-founder Neal Slateford quit in 2019 after selling a majority stake to Swiss venture capitalists Lovehoney was a £1bn business and the largest of its kind in the world.
Now Richard, who confesses to be golf mad and plays off a handicap of two at Bath Golf Club, has swapped fun in the bedroom to relief on the links by inventing an easy-to-use gadget that could save golfers’ scores.
Pocket Timer is already a hit on courses across the UK – although its users are unlikely to realise that the mould used to make it was originally designed for a sex toy remote control.
Coin-shaped and roughly the size of a poker chip, the lightweight, bright red gadget is designed to help players find lost balls using the full three minutes they are entitled to under the sport’s current official rules.
Golfers simply click the timer in their pocket and it buzzes every 30 seconds, ending with a double buzz when the three minutes have elapsed.
Richard, who retains a has a 10% stake in Lovehoney, first had the idea for Pocket Timer in 2019 when the time for find a lost ball was cut from five minutes to three, with players incurring a one-shot penalty if their search is unsuccessful.
He believes the gadget fills an important gap in the market and, having helped improve people’s performance and pleasure in the bedroom, is hoping to do the same on the golf course.
“Not everybody likes wearing a watch when they play golf, so the only other way you’d be able to keep time is by using your phone,” he said.
"But most golfers keep that in their golf bag and it’s unlikely anybody is going to pull it out before they go traipsing off into the rough to look for their ball.
“I figured having a little thing in your pocket that keeps time and vibrates – of course – when your three minutes is up would be a simple, efficient solution.
“Most golfers were giving up too soon because they were worried about holding up play and needlessly conceding a shot.”
Richard shared his vision with the owners of Joy Factory, a Chinese company he had used in his Lovehoney days.
He has also used his ecommerce experience to set up a new website selling Pocket Timer and, as the rules of golf are the same wherever it is played, is now sending out them all over the world.
While Richard keeps a close eye on his old industry – still attends Lovehoney board meetings – his focus these days is on golf.
“You never know – there might be more money to be made from Pocket Timer than from selling sex toys,” he told the Lightning 50 E-Commerce Growth Hacking Podcast.
Lovehoney, which won two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise during Richard’s time at the helm, merged with German sex toy giant WOW Tech – maker of luxury pleasure brands such as Womanizer and We-Vibe – in 2021, creating the world’s biggest sexual wellness group with a global customer base of 2.2m people and a 400-strong workforce.
Lovehoney Group is forecast to achieve revenues of more than £300m a year while the worldwide sales in the rapidly expanding sexual wellness sector are expected to exceed £40bn globally by 2028.
Richard told the L50 podcast that key to Lovehoney’s success were fun ideas such as a ‘rabbit amnesty’ – which allowed customers to recycle their old sex toys – along with amazing customer service – something he wants to repeat with Pocket Timer.
Pocket Timer photos courtesy of Richard Longhurst
