Grace Ligairi, who works at Whangarei's Mokaba cafe, has designed an invention to save hospitality staff from tipping glasses. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Working in hospitality for six years, Grace Ligairi knows how frustrating it is when glasses spill and smash - so the young Whangarei entrepreneur decided to do something about it.
The 20-year-old has won the Prime Minister's Pacific Youth Award for Business and Enterprise, inventing the Slyd'InHolder tray - a
contraption allowing wait staff to nip through crowds without fear of an accident.
"I was at an awards dinner in Auckland and was watching the waitresses walk through the crowd trying to protect the glasses with their hands. I was thinking, 'oh it's such a shame they don't have my tray'."
She has a comprehensive business plan and a work-in-progress prototype which she said has already attracted local and international interest.
Ms Ligairi was given $10,000 to develop her idea and expected to finalise her prototype by early January. She can only give limited details about the product for copyright reasons.
