AN entrepreneur's ability to sniff out an opportunity has landed him a major deal with a motor industry giant.

Designer Fragrances in Blackburn is the brainchild of businessman Shakir Adam, which began with a range of in-car air fresheners and now boasts a line of 'game-changing' blast cans.

The 36-year-old from Blackburn recently agreed a contract with Tetrosyl, the makers of T-Cut, which should see his products installed in hundreds of petrol stations.

His success has seen him sell a major part of his Weir Street company to one of his main allies, Manchester-based Spot Promotions, to take his enterprise to the next level.

He told the Lancashire Telegraph: "I remember when I got my first car, a Mini Metro, and I went to the car wash, and there were all these kinds of air fresheners near the counter.

"But at the same time they all smelled quite wrong to me - I've always been quite sensitive when it comes to fragrances. The options were very limited."

While Shakir was to become involved in a number of ventures, including a successful stint in the pioneer e-cigarettes market, the notion that he could make a name for himself in the air fresheners trade never left him.

He added: "The idea was to create a range of air fresheners which were inspired by famous perfumes and scents but come up with our own ranges.

"I thought at first it was a bit of a long shot because I didn't have any experience in the market. But we always knew what we wanted to achieve."

Before long he had manufactured some samples and was fortunate enough to persuade bosses at Euro Garages to place them in a select number of their service station sites.

"Within a short time they said they were selling out and people were coming back for more," added Shakir.

Early orders for 30,000 units quickly doubled, and increased again, until the team was faced with a huge challenge to ensure production rates met demand.

"That was a massive confidence boost for us and then we started developing more products, like our Royal Oud range and it went from there," he added.

"I've always believed that the right fragrance can really touch someone."

He says that strong word-of-mouth recommendations for their offerings has also been backed up by determined social media and online marketing.

Under the new arrangements, Shakir will take up a key sales and marketing role within the new operation, while his original business partner, Sabir Valli, who helped him to get the original Designer Fragrances off the ground, has left to pursue other commercial interests.

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Shakir is hopeful that the Tetrosyl deal will see Designer Fragrance products sitting on the shelves of the likes of Halfords in the weeks and months to come.

"With Tetrosyl coming on board, Spot Promotions, who I'd worked with in the past, saw the bigger picture and they have the complete warehousing and distribution set-up to make this a success," he said.

Meanwhile Shakir is looking to reach similar heights with his new blast can range, which should see the outfit break out of the motoring market and reach a wider audience.

Much more concentrated than conventional competitors, the dry-blast effect is being marketed as an air freshener and sanitiser which can be used around the home, office and vehicles, and even give a little pep to footwear and clothing when required.

"This is going to be a game changer for us - we only started out with these around a month ago but the feedback we have been getting has been great," added Shakir.