Jordan Daykin

Jordan Daykin
Born (1995-07-06) 6 July 1995
Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England
Residence Wiltshire
Nationality British
Education The John of Gaunt School
Occupation Entrepreneur
Known for Dragons' Den, GripIt Fixings
Net worth £10,000,000 (March 2016)

Jordan Daykin (born 6 July 1995), is CEO of GripIt Fixings in the UK. He is known for his appearance on the BBC Two business programme Dragons' Den, where he became the youngest and most successful entrepreneur to win investment.[1][2] He secured an £80,000 investment from Deborah Meaden for his and his grandfather Stanley Daykin's plasterboard fixing invention.[3][4] he was called "One of Britain's Leading Young Entrepreneurs" on City A.M.'s list of 100 Most Powerful Entrepreneurs in the UK in March 2016.[5]

Early life

Daykin was born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, where he attended The John of Gaunt School.[6] His parents split up when he was nine, Daykin lived with his father until he was 13, when moved to his grandparents' bungalow because his father went to Sierra Leone for work . At the age of 13, he left school to be privately home-tutored.[7][8]

Businesses

Whilst still in school at the age of 12, Daykin founded his first business, RS2Services, which sold game accounts and virtual currency to fans of fantasy role-playing game Runescape.[9] A year later he started his second business, a nationwide tutoring agency called Tutor Magnet, .[10]

GripIt Fixings

In 2008, shortly after Daykin moved into his grandparents' home, he and his grandfather Stanley Daykin set about converting the garage into a bedroom for him. Daykin wanted both a blackout blind and a curtain rail to ensure no light could break into the room.[11] After Daykin and his grandfather broke several fixings and drill bits attempting to hang the curtain rail, he went to the local DIY store to find a better solution, but could not find anything suitable. That afternoon they both went to the shed, and created the GripIt invention. The fixing was soon successful in mounting a television on the wall, and Daykin spotted a gap in the market. Four years later a patent was granted for GripIt and the invention was taken to market.

In 2014, Daykin appeared on Dragons' Den and successfully secured an £80,000 investment for 25% of his company from Deborah Meaden.[12] By 2016, GripIt Fixings were stocked in over 3,000 UK stores and exported to 32 countries.[13] The company is due to launch the fixing in the US in July 2016, while the first delivery to the Australian market is expected later in the Summer.[14]

In February 2016, Daykin raised £2 million from a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube to fund the rapid expansion of the GripIt Fixings business abroad.[15]

Television and reception

Since Daykin's first appearance on the BBC Two business programme Dragons' Den in August 2014, he has , appearied on ITV's This Morning television programme. On 28 February 2016, he appeared on the BBC Two programme Pitches to Riches which looked at Dragons' Den's biggest success stories.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "19-year-old becomes youngest entrepreneur to win backing on Dragons' Den". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  2. ↑ "From Dragon's Den hopeful to multi-millionaire: The school dropout who became show's biggest success story". www.thesun.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  3. ↑ "From Dragons' Den to £10 million business: Meet the show's biggest ever success story". Metro.
  4. ↑ "Grip it Fixings". Deborah Meaden.
  5. ↑ Green, Emma Haslett, Harriet. "The 100 most powerful entrepreneurs in the UK". www.cityam.com. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  6. ↑ "Former Trowbridge pupil and Dragons Den star's business now worth £10 million". Bath Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  7. ↑ "A 19-year-old school dropout has just won £80,000 investment from Deborah Meaden on Dragon's Den". Management Today.
  8. ↑ "£10m Dragons' Den boy whose biggest battle's been with his own mother: He is one of the show's greatest success stories - but here he reveals the bitter price he's paid". Mail Online.
  9. ↑ "19-year-old becomes youngest entrepreneur to win backing on Dragons' Den". The Telegraph.
  10. ↑ "19 and 3 businesses in: How young entrepreneur Jordan Daykin won over the Dragons". Startups.
  11. ↑ "Dragons' Den success story: The 19-year-old running his third business". BusinessZone.
  12. ↑ "A 19-year-old school dropout has just won £80,000 investment from Deborah Meaden on Dragon's Den". Management Today.
  13. ↑ "Dragon's Den youngest entrepreneur Jordan Daykin now gets £2m funding for his GripIt Fixings firm". This is Money.
  14. ↑ "Businessman, 20, who became a millionaire after going on Dragons' Den proposed to his girlfriend on a Mediterranean cruise last year but has not spoken to his mother since she accused him of burglary at her home". Mail Online.
  15. ↑ "Dragon's Den Jordan Daykin gets £2m funding for GripIt Fixings firm". This is Money. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  16. ↑ "Dragons' Den entrepreneur reveals staggering £10m fortune". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
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