Inventor and engineer Trevor Bayliss analyses his relationship with

TREVOR Bayliss hit headlines four years ago for inventing the clockwork radio - a windup radio requiring no batteries or electricity. Since then, he's developed a solar-powered radio, a clockwork torch and made a computer run by windup mechanics. His inventions are being used in the most remote parts of Africa.

His success as an inventor is paying off; aside from meeting the Queen and winning a series of design awards, he's just appeared in a Mercury One-2-One TV advert and is negotiating a publishing deal for an autobiography.

But two years before we had heard anything about him, Jill Hammerly, his PA, was already a key asset to his business. Those earlier years - the pre-fame years as Jill calls them were a world away from the media appearances. The two of them met through mutual friends at a party.

Initially Jill's role was to make sure Trevor's main business survived. He was manufacturing products for the disabled: "I was working on the road and Jill was running the office. She was making sure I was out there getting an income in." One evening, after Trevor saw a programme about the spread of Aids in Africa, everything changed.

"The commentator was saying that the only way to stop the disease was by education and this was only possible by radio. But the problem was that electricity was only available through batteries, which cost the equivalent of six months salary." With his engineering background, Trevor saw the potential of a spring and dynamo to operate a radio.

Jill's support during the early stages of the invention was essential to Trevor. It was ten months before anyone took the clockwork radio seriously.

"Jill stabilised me. As an inventor you can be volatile - full of enthusiasm for something that's possibly not going anywhere. It's easy to get side-tracked. Jill was always encouraging but practical."

In 1994 the BBC's Tomorrow's World ran a story about the invention, which prompted an investor to open a factory in South Africa to manufacture the radios. The months of rejection paid off.

As Trevor's invention became known, Jill's role as financial and emotional supporter broadened to juggling diary dates and accounts as well as handling enquiries from inventor-wannabes.

But fame or uncertain futures seems to have had little effect upon their relationship after seven years. Jill's role - and calming influence - is still as important to Trevor as she was in those early days. "Life would be chaos without her. I listen to what she says because she seldom gets it wrong. Besides, wouldn't life be lonely just sitting in my workshop staring out the window."

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