A holiday in the U.S. for Barry and Jill Edgely resulted in the start of a mattress importing company.

Seaford-based Barry set up a company called UKUSA to bring the ultra-soft 'Dream Top' mattresses he found in the States back to this country.

The business launch is the culmination of a 15-year friendship Barry has had with American ex-serviceman Mike Harrison.

He first met his business partner-to-be back in 1985 when Barry was running a company supplying scuba diving equipment and Mike was serving in the U.S airforce, teaching scuba diving in his spare time.

Barry supplied Mike with the necessary equipment to teach students and he persuaded another scuba company to set up a diving school nearby and let Mike run it.

After five years Barry closed the diving business and found himself a job in the food industry.

Shortly after, Mike retired from the airforce and returned to the States to work for NASA.

Barry said: "Over the years we had both toyed with the idea of starting a business which could be run both in the U.S. and the UK.

"We had been friends for many years and although we lived 3,000 miles apart, we knew we could make a business work.

"Mike needed to be his own boss after 30 years of serving Uncle Sam and I wanted to be my own boss again after being in the food industry for ten years."

On a holiday visiting Mike, Barry and Jill told Mike and his wife, Peggy, how comfortable the bed was.

Barry said: "We were told the bed was very hard and they felt embarrassed to give us that bed to sleep on.

"But they had put a Dream Top mattress pad on the bed in the hope that it would be more comfortable.

"We decided to buy one to bring back.

"Our friends thought the pads were a great idea and asked us to bring one back with us on our next visit.

"That was the start of UKUSA, the name we gave our business."

Jill also saw the potential for comfort and low-risk pressure relief for the elderly and infirm as she used to work caring for the elderly.

The pad was shown to experts who thought they could be a cost effective initial device in the fight against pressure ulcers.

Barry said: "Since we started to import the pads, we have had nothing but positive results from clients.

"Some said they haven't slept properly for years and now they are having a good night's sleep every night.

"Now the import side of the business is working, we are starting to export a revolutionary wound dressing to the States.

"It has had vast successes within the NHS and the private sector.

"We also have plans to introduce leisure products from the U.S. to the UK."