DRAGONS’ Den teenage entrepreneur, Jordan Daykin from Westbury, who invented the revolutionary plasterboard fixing GripIt with his granddad, has teamed up with RS Components to distribute the product worldwide.
The deal comes less than a year after 19-year-old Jordan appeared on the BBC TV series ‘Dragons’ Den’ asking for investment in his fledgling manufacturing business.
Less than a year later, his company is working with RS Components, a trading brand of Electrocomponents plc, the global distributor for engineers. With operations in 32 countries, Electrocomponents plc offers around 500,000 products online, through catalogues and at trade counters, shipping more than 44,000 parcels a day.
The announcement also sees the introduction of the second generation of GripIt Fixing, also launched this month, which makes the fixing even more user-friendly. RS Components have exclusive rights to the distribution of this new generation GripIt for two months.
Jordan, who runs GripIt from a manufacturing base in Melksham, invented the Grip It Fixing with his grandfather Stan Daykin, now 81, after struggling to secure a blind to a window of a converted garage at Stan’s home. Jordan was 13 at the time.
They confronted a common problem faced by many homeowners and businesses in more modern buildings; the gap between the plasterboard and the steel lintel was too narrow and the drill bits kept snapping. Fixings available on the market were not robust enough to secure the blind.
Stan and Jordan came up with a fixing with a ‘wing’ feature which fans out, thus spreading the load and allowing modern walls to bear the weight of objects more effectively.
The pair then spent several years securing the patent for their design before launching Grip It Fixings, achieving some success prior to appearing on ‘Dragons’ Den’.
After pitching for two hours, Jordan’s passion and knowledge gained the respect of ‘Dragon’ Deborah Meaden, and Jordan became the youngest entrepreneur to receive an £80,000 investment. Since then, Deborah has had a hands-on approach to help Jordan develop the business.
This desire to take GripIt to the next level led Deborah to think of RS as a dynamic strategic partner. She said, “RS is an obvious choice to take GripIt to customers all over the world. As an RS customer myself back in the holiday industry my team relied on RS for their extensive product range and next day service.”
For RS, the Grip It Fixing was an obvious addition to its product range as the fixing provides a stronger anchor capable of handling loads of up to 180kg. This makes them ideal for use in the home and in a variety of industrial settings, where a robust, heavy duty wall fixing is required.
Jordan said, “Grip It Fixings solves a problem encountered every day, all over the world, and we’re keen to bring our solution to the global market. RS has the global reach with a large customer base of installers and engineers. With this business relationship we feel we are on our way to achieving our ambitious goals.”
Ben Lawton, head of category at RS Components said, “We’re dedicated to providing products to our customers which solve day-to-day challenges, making their lives easier. The Grip It Fixing is an innovative, new-to-market product offering high loading capabilities, ease of installation and consistent reliability to rival the traditional plasterboard fixing.
“Jordan’s passion and commitment for the product and its development is inspiring and the Grip It Fixing is a simple and effective British invention.”
GripIt Fixings are easy to use comprising a circular plastic plug with a pair of metal locking wings. This is inserted in a hole of the same diameter drilled in the plasterboard, and tapped with a hammer to engage anti-rotation tabs. The fixing is then screwed in place.
These fixings can be used on rendered or un-rendered cavity walls, double-thickness plasterboard, insulated plasterboard, or dot and dab walls.
RS is stocking the full range of GripIt Fixings, available in four sizes from 15mm diameter to 25mm. The fixings are colour coded and available in various depths suitable for wall-attachment thickness from 8mm up to 30mm.
For further information and to place an order visit www.rs-online.com.
