Leo Martino is very excited about his latest delivery.

“We are always looking to develop the next big thing,” said the tenacious Aussie and managing director of Easy Innovations, based in Canterbury.

“We have got a product we have been working on for 18 months and we just got the first completed samples into the office today.

"It’s used to help fitting doors and windows. It levels them out and puts it in place. It’s a very handy tool and very easy to use. We are hoping it’s going to be a big success.

“If it does anywhere near as good as the Hedgehog product, it will be.”

The item to which Mr Martino is referring is the Hedgehog Gutter Brush, designed to do away with the potentially expensive problem of clogged guttering – and possibly the foundation for a series of inventions aimed at the trade industries.

His business partner Peter Skinner came to him with the idea 15 years ago and the pair spent the next seven years developing it.

In 2009 they launched the brush, which sits in the gutter and stops leaves and dirt accumulating. Today it is stocked in builders’ merchants across the UK and Europe.

“Normally leaves roll down from your roof and end up in the gutter where they build up and cause a blockage,” said Mr Martino, 58, who has lived near Canterbury for 20 years.

“The brush allows them to either blow off or the density of the bristles means the leaves get stuck and break down into smaller particles which wash away.

“It’s a very simple idea and it doesn’t need any training to fit it.”

The average home has 24 metres of guttering, which would require six lengths of the gutter brush, at a cost of £90.

Mr Martino estimates home owners spend £140 getting their gutters cleaned twice a year – which would work out as a saving of more than £1,000 over the 10-year guaranteed life span of the Hedgehog brush.

The firm does not sell directly to consumers but supplies timber and builders merchants like Sheffield Insulation Group, Travis Perkins and Buildbase. Getting those customers was not easy.

The firm caught the eye of major suppliers with a large advertising campaign which included branding at Premiership football and rugby grounds. They also did a lot of national radio.

“It was a heavy investment but we were confident in our product,” said Mr Martino, who is married to English wife Caroline and has three teenage daughters. “We thought people would want to buy it and that is what happened.”

They caught the eye of Sheffield Insulation Group, which stocked it at many of their 300 outlets.

“They were a key vehicle for us to test the market. It took a bit of time but they became our first group customer.”

Today he runs a multimillion pound turnover firm, employing six staff at the Canterbury head office and up to 100 during busy times at their factory in Maidstone, which produces up to 20,000 units a week at peak demand.

The success has prompted the launch of a second business, Discovery Products, to develop new ideas from the copious amounts of inventors who have approached him after seeing his success.

The firm launched at Discovery Park in Sandwich three months ago.

“It is very early days but we get a lot of people approach us with ideas,” said Mr Martino.

“They are not always good but some are and they need research and development. This company will be the vehicle to do that.”