Sex aid maker to seek market listing

CST Medical, the company behind the first sex aid to be sold in Boots, is planning to float on AIM by the end of the year.

The Yorkshire-based company makes Vielle, a clitoral stimulator made of PVC. Vielle is currently being sold exclusively in Boots stores across the UK and Ireland.

CST has engaged Williams de Broe, the small-cap broker, to raise around £1m in a flotation on the junior stock market, The Independent has learned.

Vielle - described by Glamour magazine as a cross between "an exploded rubber glove and an emergency toothbrush" - was invented by Liz Paul, who had previously developed a patch for chocaholics. It is currently selling 3,500 boxes a week at £9.99 apiece. The product was tested in clinical trials which proved that clitoral stimulation using Vielle helped women orgasm more quickly. Boots have an exclusive licence to sell the product until January, when it will be launched at other chemists.

CSTplans to extend the Vielle brand into lubrication gels and is also developing other products for female health problems. Williams de Broe hopes the fundraising will value the company at between £4m and £6m.