A MELKSHAM business owner is celebrating the success of his invention one year after being the youngest person ever to secure a deal on the hit TV series Dragons’ Den.
20-year-old Jordan Daykin has seen his business GripIt Fixings, which is based on Commerce Way on the Semington bypass, grow to dizzying heights since he secured an £80,000 deal with famous investor and entrepreneur Deborah Meaden last year.
GripIt launched in 2012, when managing director Jordan, from Westbury, was just 17, and secured its first order with Screwfix for £4,000. The company is now undergoing a £6million expansion, and has quadrupled its store count to go on sale in 32 countries across the world.
Jordan said, “The last three years have been unbelievable. The journey since the day my granddad and I had the problem of fixing a curtain rail seems like a decade ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.
“I feel very proud to have created a solution to an everyday problem and built it into a worldwide brand. For me the best thing about all I have achieved so far is seeing my granddad’s face light up each day when I tell him what’s new, and the sense of achievement we get looking out onto his garden shed where it all happened.”
Melksham Independent News recently ran an exclusive Q & A with Jordan:
What has changed for you since you went on Dragons’ Den?
JD: “Since the den things have changed dramatically; GripIt has quadrupled in size and we are now global across 32 countries with RS Components. Personally it’s been very strange as suddenly people know who you are – I was on a cruise the other month and at dinner someone came up and said they recognised me from the TV. It’s been a very surreal year and now I am looking to motivate and inspire others in the way of motivational talks and advice.”
How does staying in Wiltshire work for the business and your personal life?
JD: “GripIt’s head office and manufacturing facility is based in Melksham and I still live in Westbury. Keeping everything local was very important to me from the beginning and I still employ three people who were with me from the beginning, making GripIt around the dining table.”
What do you enjoy the most and find the hardest about your job?
JD: “The one thing I love the most is waking up in the mornings and, although I know the rough agenda, you never know what’s going to happen next. It keeps me excited and driven as I love a challenge.
“I wouldn’t say there’s a single thing I find the hardest, but running a business as a whole is hard work and takes a lot of determination, effort and time.
“I like the adage that success and business are like an iceberg; people always see what’s on the surface in things such as nice cars and a nice house, but they don’t see what goes on beneath, which is all the hard work, commitment, drive and determination.”
What have you got planned next?
JD: “Over the next two months GripIt will be available in all 320 B&Q Stores, 400 Screwfixes, over 200 Curry’s and online with Argos.
“We launch in Australia in March 2016 and our first delivery to the US is in July 2016 so the plan is to continue developing the worldwide brand and the launch of six new products throughout next year.
“We are currently working on a large expansion plan which will be in place from next year where we will be investing millions in additional machinery.”
GripIt has was named the most innovative small business in the South West by the Business is Great Britain campaign. It was also named one of the UK’s best small businesses in the O2 Smarta 100 list.
Jordan’s success story can be read on his new wesbite www.jordanday kin.co.uk.
GripIt fixings are heavy duty plasterboard fixings used for securing objects to walls. The fixing is able to hold heavy weights because it spreads the weight using wings that open inside the wall cavity.
To find out more go to www.gripitfixings.co.uk
