BY ALLISON LEE
Anyone who owns animals knows the problem of filling drinking troughs and buckets all too well. Time is usually of the essence, so we leave the hose in the container while we move on to the next job, trying not to forget to switch it off when the bucket or trough is full. Inevitably, we get distracted, forget about the hose, and before we know it, we have flooded the yard or stables!
Belle Richardson, it seems, was just like the rest of us—until she decided to do something about it. Belle and her husband, Jason, knew there must be an answer, and they set out to make it their mission to solve the problem.
“Jason and I started wondering why there wasn’t a simple, portable device that could automatically stop the hose when the container was full,” Belle told me. What followed was about five years of prototyping and testing, with a lot of leaks! The couple didn’t have huge development budgets or access to fancy technology. They tested most prototypes in their own yard with a hosepipe, buckets, and sheer determination until they had something that worked reliably. Together, they came up with the idea of SealStop, a mechanical device that clips onto the edge of a bucket, trough, or other suitable container and connects to a standard garden hosepipe.
SealStop works simply. As the water level rises, the float rises with it, activating the internal shut-off mechanism and automatically stopping the flow when the container is full. There are no batteries, electricity, timers, sensors, or apps. You turn the tap on, get on with another job, and SealStop takes care of stopping the water.
The current version is designed for mains water pressure rather than gravity-fed water systems, although the couple are currently working on a low-pressure version for rainwater.
Neither Belle nor Jason has a background in product design or manufacturing. They are simply two people with a problem they wanted to solve. Belle was a Diagnostic Radiographer in the NHS for 11 years before leaving in 2023 to focus on SealStop. Her husband is a Master Farrier, so horses and agriculture have always been a major part of their lives. The couple live on a smallholding in East Yorkshire with their two boys, horses, sheep, chickens, and various other animals that seem to accumulate.
The couple are incredibly proud of their invention, which is made in Britain. The moulded components are manufactured in Yorkshire, and they assemble, test, and pack the finished products themselves. “Keeping manufacturing close to home matters to us. It isn’t always the cheapest or easiest option, particularly for a small business, but we know the people making our components, and we can be incredibly hands-on with quality and development,” Belle told me with obvious pride.
In June 2025, Belle and Jason took their invention to Dragons’ Den, a reality television business programme in which entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of wealthy investors, known as the “Dragons,” to secure funding in exchange for equity. Belle said that walking into the Den was terrifying, but something she is glad to have done. Whilst the couple didn’t secure an investment, Belle says, “The response since Dragons’ Den aired has been phenomenal. We have heard from gardeners, allotment holders, builders, narrowboat owners, caravaners, hot tub businesses, koi keepers, people with swimming pools, and many others all saying essentially the same thing: ‘I do this too.'”
Dragons’ Den has been a huge learning curve for Belle and Jason. Although SealStop was originally developed with the equestrian and agricultural market in mind, the response since filming has shown them just how much broader the potential market could be. They now have a clearer vision for SealStop’s future and are open to the right strategic partnership or licensing opportunity if it helps them reach a market that would otherwise take years to access.
The duo have ambitions to take things further and want to create products that make saving water easier in everyday life. Belle would like to tackle problems such as leaking toilets, another source of unnecessary water waste, and she believes a complete rethink is needed of how water entering a cistern is controlled.
This year’s hot summer brought drought and hosepipe bans across much of the UK, making water conservation even more important. Saving water shouldn’t be complicated, and simple inventions like SealStop can save thousands of gallons of water and a lot of money, especially for those on water meters.
Belle and Jason have taken their business from prototypes in their yard to an award-winning, British-made product, with over 4,000 units sold and a spot in front of the Dragons. Belle says, “It still makes me laugh slightly that all of this started because I couldn’t remember to turn a tap off!”
SealStop is available directly from the website and through a growing network of independent retailers and stockists across the UK. They are also beginning to expand internationally and are having some exciting conversations with distributors and retailers overseas.
For more information, please visit www.sealstop.co.uk.
Allison Lee is a smallholder from North Yorkshire who has written for the Yorkshire Times and other publications. Her website can be accessed here.