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Manchester start-up set to “revolutionise” UK’s sleep market

A start-up business from Manchester which has invented a completely new type of foam technology for pillows and mattresses has revealed its ambition to “revolutionise” the UK’s domestic and medical sleep market.

Levitex®, based at Manchester Science Park, has created a unique range of sleep products that are said to offer a ‘gravity defying’ night’s sleep for users, following a series of medical trials with the University of Salford.

During trials, the Levitex® foam was tested against 11 other sleeping surfaces including memory foam, sprung mattresses and the foam often used in hospital bed mattresses. The results showed that Levitex® foam offered the best combination of comfort and support, delivering life-improving results for users.

The company is the brainchild of posture expert, James Leinhardt, who has spent his career working with NHS trusts and social care organisations throughout the UK to help improve the lives of patients with debilitating illnesses.

His experience around the importance of sleep for patient recovery and rehabilitation, alongside the lack of attention put on the quality of sleeping surfaces, led him to create Levitex® and the patent-pending foam technology in all of its products.

With a Kickstarter campaign set to launch later this year, James is hoping to take his products into the UK’s sleep market and establish Levitex® as a household name.

He said: “I’m thrilled to officially launch Levitex® and bring an exciting new product to the marketplace. By combining expertise in postural management, pain medicine management and medical device engineering, we’ve created a product that has been proven to transform people’s lives.

“I know it may sound ambitious, but I genuinely believe we have a range of products in Levitex® that can revolutionise the way people in the UK sleep, helping people to understand the importance of good mattress and pillows choices.

“Essentially, there are three common problems associated with poor or uncomfortable sleep, which are posture, pressure and proprioception. We’ve created an innovation in foam technology that addresses all three of these issues and offers the right conditions for rest, recuperation and a great night’s sleep.” 

The Levitex foam technology has undergone a rigorous clinical trial at the University of Salford and is backed by Dr Ilan Lieberman, a pain medicine consultant at the University of South Manchester Hospitals (UHSM.)

He said: “It’s rare to see a product like a mattress or pillow developed using such comprehensive medical research and then put to the test through clinical trials and live studies.

“Our studies found that the Levitex® foam scored higher than any other surface and patients with medical illnesses had an improved quality of life when using these products.

“The foam technology in Levitex® provides a surface that is soft and comfortable, but also offers the right firmness and temperature. All of this combined is important because getting the balance right improves posture and spinal alignment, which is important to everybody.

“The way that people sleep ultimately affects the way they live and that’s especially important when you consider that we spend a third of our lives in bed. It’s fantastic to be involved in a project that aims to tackle the gap in knowledge and make people’s everyday lives better.”