Family Life, a Love of the Outdoors and Picnic Blankets

Megan Lomax of PACMAT tells us about outdoor adventures and outdoor technical gear.

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded PACMAT.

Megan Lomax: Taking two young children on the outdoor adventures, we had plenty to carry… bags of snacks, changing clothes, and toys. Our traditional picnic blanket was bulky and impossible to wash and dry, so we’d usually opt to travel without it. So we got to thinking. What if we could create a mat that would be both comfortable and waterproof… but also lightweight and compact enough to always have with you? We combined our experience and knowledge gained from running a creative agency with a slight obsession with lightweight, outdoor technical gear to create PACMAT.

How does PACMAT innovate? 

Megan Lomax: Inspired by our experience of family life & a love of the outdoors.

How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your business finances?

Megan Lomax: Our other business has lost revenue due to Covid. This has given us less money to invest in PACMAT. We are producing stock, but in smaller numbers, than we’d like to keep on top of cash flow. 

Did you have to make difficult choices regarding human resources, and what are the lessons learned?

Megan Lomax: We are a family business. It’s just the two of us. We learnt our lessons in 2008/9!

Did you benefit from any government grants, and did that help keep your business afloat?

Megan Lomax: No.

Your final thoughts?

Megan Lomax: When we set up Rubbastuff to make Picnic mats, we had no idea that there would be a boom in the outdoor industry, especially people needing dry places to sit outside. So if there’s a silver lining of a pandemic… (We make single person picnic mats, perfect for social distancing) 

Our OS Collection has been wonderful for virtual travel. Where would you rather be? 

Your website?

https://rubbastuff.com/