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Rehook inventor lands Dragons' Den investment

All five potential investors made offers to Wayne Taylor

The inventor of Rehook, the tool that reseats the chain of their bike without getting their hands or clothing dirty, has secured £50,000 in funding on Dragons’ Den in return for a 25 per cent stake in the business from the show's Deborah Meaden.

Initially, the Dragons seemed reticent about whether or not to back the product as Norwich-based Wayne Taylor made his pitch on the BBC show last night.

He explained that he came up with the idea for the product after his chain shipped on his way to a meeting and he arrived with his hands and shirt dirty, and showed the Dragons how it worked.

Theo Paphitis seemed unconvinced of its benefits and literally got his hands dirty showing how easy it was to reseat a change the good-old fashioned way.

But his interest – and that of the other would-be investors – was piqued by the fact that the product has already achieved sales of £150,000 since its launch a couple of years ago and ultimately all five made offers.

You can watch last night's programme here on BBC iPlayer.

Taylor developed the business with his wife Anna Taylor-Maughan, both also having to juggle it with their full-time jobs, looking after their two children and doing up their home.

Ahead of appearing on the show, he said: “The product seems to have a real Marmite effect on people, so it could go either way in the Den.

“I feel our numbers are good, so it’s really going to be down to the what they think of the product. I’m a bit nervous to say the least!”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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