Tinwell-based Sew Now Stamford helps Royal Army engineers create strap for explosives

The owner of a sewing business swapped curtains for weaponry when she was enlisted to help with a military project.

Mandy Sylvester-Smith, co-owner of Sew Now Stamford, was approached by the Royal Army engineers to create a prototype band to be used with explosives.

Mandy, who had a 25-year career in banking before she created the Tinwell-based upholstery business 15 years ago, said: “We do get asked to do weird and wonderful things but I’ve not dealt with explosives before. It was interesting!

“We occasionally work from drawings but with me not having much knowledge of explosives, such as how much they weigh, it was quite a learning curve.”

The band prototype was designed by Lance Corporal Conor Weed of the Devon-based 59 Commando Squadron to help with a technique called abatis.

This involves tactically placing explosives on trees so they fall into a lattice-like defensive barrier which military vehicles struggle to get through.

LCpl Weed said: “It’s a way of slowing down convoys and is used as an ambush technique.

“The traditional method uses masking tape or another non-sticky tape but it's a very time consuming process which needs modernising.

“It's been around since the First or Second World War as a tactic.”

LCpl Weed, who joined the Army five years ago and before that was in the Royal Marines, came up with the idea while taking an engineering course during lockdown.

He was encouraged to take the idea forward but wasn’t having any luck with military tailors so a colleague from the Stamford area suggested Sew Now.

Together they adapted the initial design before coming up with a successful prototype, which LCpl Weed describes as being like a Velcro bum-bag which you can strap something onto.

Mandy said: “It’s exciting because it’s something different.

“It’s always great to stretch your skills in a different way.”

The Army will soon begin testing the product, which Sew Now will be manufacturing, and LCpl Weed hopes if it’s successful it will be rolled out across the United Kingdom’s forces and beyond.

The 33-year-old said: “I am a firm believer that engineers should be innovators and not just sit on stuff.

“We have had a lot of ideas which have been stonewalled. This is the first time I have been actively encouraged to come up with new ideas.”