Falkirk bagpiper and inventor sets sights on international market after BBC Dragons' Den appearance

Young entrepreneur Robbie MacIsaac appeared on Thursday’s episode of the popular TV show in a bid to secure investment for his FLUX Blowpipe bagpipe moisture control technology, which he invented when he was 14-years-old.

The 22-year-old University of Strathclyde engineering student, who has been bagpiping since the age of nine, was looking for investment from the dragons for his company FLUX Solutions.

After marching out of the lift and into the den playing traditional folk song ‘The Braes o’ Killiecrankie, Robbie’s performance left the five dragons blown away.

However, the former Falkirk High pupil, who had secured a music scholarship at Strathallan School, failed to secure an investment as they felt he was already making a success of the business on his own.

Since leaving school, Robbie’s gone on to grow FLUX Solutions to become a business that has generated over £85,000 with increased interest and custom from around the globe complementing sales in the UK.

He believes the international interest in his high-tech kit demonstrates an appetite for bagpipes and innovation in the sector beyond Scotland’s borders.

Speaking after his TV appearance, Robbie said: “We have sold over 500 FLUX Blowpipes and had enquiries coming in from across the world. Although now our biggest market is in Scotland and the UK, the business we’ve received from abroad is a reminder that throughout their long history, bagpipes have travelled to every corner of the globe.

“There are over 140,000 competitive bagpipers worldwide, with research suggesting the greatest portion is in North America alone. To give another example of their global appeal, there were 146 bands taking part at last year’s World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, coming from the likes of Argentina, Austria, Australia and Israel to compete.

"When you also take into consideration the number of people who play the pipes on a non-competitive basis the opportunity for the Scottish bagpipe sector to succeed overseas is huge, and an opportunity I think is still largely untapped.”

Robbie’s FLUX Blowpipe has been engineered to remove moisture from the instrument by combining the use of temperature, pressure difference and a special absorbent. The device prolongs the lifespan of the bagpipes and it could reduce the risk of Piper’s Lung disease, caused when the lungs are exposed to moisture and fungi living in the instrument.

The entrepreneur came up with the blowpipe design after he had a natural desire to solve a problem he was dealing with on a daily basis.

To date, Robbie’s business idea has seen him win a number of awards including the title of ‘UK’s Most Innovative Young Engineer 2017’ by the Manufacturing Technologies Association.

Last year, he released the latest of his inventions – the FLUX Bagpipe Humidity Case. The case stores instruments at a constant humidity to increase the health and enrich the tone of the instrument, while also being protective and transportable.

During his appearance on the BBC series last week, the antique pipes Robbie played were produced in Glasgow back in 1910 – 112 years ago. Some of the dragons chose to take a look at the pipes with Deborah Meaden and Sara Davies giving them a go.