In nine years of self-financing, Nathan Hughes has remodelled a recreational business into an export centre with annual sales of one million pounds. Restrap manufactures luggage and more for the developing bicycle market. a single sewing device after learning to sew just watching YouTube videos.
The company is named after its original product, a strap made from recycled car seat belts that holds your feet on pedals. Restrap now employs another 21 people and as sales continue to rise, it will go up more.
Other bicycle luggage brands have long outsourced to Asia; Restrap has never been manufactured in the UK and, thanks to the recent acquisition of a tape sealing machine, the Yorkshire-based company can now take care of all stages of the production process.
“We used to go through junkyards, cut car seat belts, then wash them in my mom’s washing device and sew them in the back room,” Hughes recalls.
The first pedal belts were sold on motorcycles specializing in “fixies”, velodrome-style single-pediment motorcycles fixed to the roads.
“It’s an herbal progression to climb more tissues and start experimenting. We have evolved towards the manufacture of suitcases, backpacks and other strapping products.
Late last year, the company moved into a canalside workshop, a former munitions factory, on the outskirts of Leeds. It is twice as large as the previous facility, but it is already full.
“In our first year, we had a turnover of only £9,000. He had no other task at that time. Since then, we’ve pretty much doubled [our sales] year after year. Last year we had a turnover of over £700,000; This year we will far surpass the one million pound mark.
Brexit has halted growth.
“Yeah, that’s weird,” Hughes admits.
“There have been mixed feelings here about how [Brexit] disappeared and what it did [to the people]. From an advertising point of view, because we source and produce in the UK, we haven’t been hit too hard. Due to currency exchanges, we export much more because we are now less expensive than our competitors. »
Domestic production also Retrap to iterate quickly.
“We designed a saddlebag that we flipped over in a day to see if it could be done. We made the designs, tested them, sent some to other people to try and then presented them to the market, all within 24 hours. It is now one of our best-selling products.
Restrap exports to Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, as well as the EU and the United States.
The company has grown with the rise of bikepacking, a modern way of riding a soft bike that hangs bags between handlebars and has bags that pull saddles instead of attaching them to the front and rear racks (the term mimics “backpack”). “)
“There’s been a lot of brain replacement in the use of a bicycle,” Hughes explained.
“There are many more people who bike during the holidays, go on weekends or bike to work. People want bike luggage, and bikepacking is a big component of that.
Thanks to Restrap’s new adhesive tape sealing device for waterproofing, it now also manufactures classic travel bags, but bikepacking parts predominate, accounting for the bulk of the company’s more than 50 SKUs.
“However, our best-selling product, by volume, is a belt,” Hughes said.
“It’s stretchy, which makes it for riding a bike. We sell thousands.
Hughes studied electrical engineering in college, but left without any homework in mind. He said he “didn’t enjoy anything,” and emphasized that he “just enjoyed doing things. “
He is a self-taught designer and very skilled with the sewing machine.
“I’m part of the generation that is informed [how to do it] through YouTube. If you need to be told something, you can do it [online]. Well, if you need to become a doctor, you need to go on to university, but if you need to build a chair, then go online and see how to do it.
In addition to a small investment by a sales manager in the early years of the business, Restrap financed through sales.
“We don’t take out big loans to buy the machines, we create the revenue stream to buy them. It gives us more security: other people here depend on us for their source of income.
Angel making an investment is not a component of the game plan for the future.
“Never say never, but it’s just that we never thought about the right opportunity,” Hughes said.
“If we had a great concept and had to fund it, we would take a look at the [angles]. But, right now [we’re happy] to do [everything] ourselves.
If Restrap goes the VC route, Hughes will no doubt turn to YouTube to see how he fares.
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