Rapierstar is marking 25 years of ‘turning something small into something great’ with its fasteners and fixings for the residential and commercial property sectors, with investment in a brand refresh to reaffirm its market leading position in the UK and Ireland.

The Cheshire-based designer, developer and supplier of specialist fasteners and fixings, has reached its quarter century milestone this year, producing a family of award-winning branded product ranges, including StarPVCU, StarTurn, StarFix, StarPin & StarNail and StarAlu, which serves the majority of UK windows and doors manufacturers.

Since its inception in 1992 under the leadership of Group Managing Director, David Furness, Rapierstar has grown into a multi-million-pound turnover business. He explained how the company has reached this significant landmark: “We are consistent in the design, performance, import and delivery of our branded products, never waivering on quality, standards and procedures to produce reliable, specialist screws and fixings.” He continued, “Our established relations in the Far East and import expertise ensures our stock holding and supply can respond on a next day delivery year-round, which is a crucial service for industry.”

The life of a Rapierstar screw begins with design at its Cheshire headquarters, then transferred to the Far East for manufacture, imported back to the UK for with quality testing and standards checking at Rapierstar’s own unique facility, and distributed throughout the UK and Europe on a next day delivery service.

As part of celebrations, Rapierstar has screwed down to its beginnings and threaded together 25 interesting facts you didn’t know about its fasteners and fixings.

Rapierstar:

1. Currently holds a 75% market share in the UK and Ireland
2. Set up in a garage in 1992
3. Supplies all household name windows and doors manufacturers
4. Has one billion fasteners in stock at its Macclesfield warehouse facility
5. Has 3,000 pallets of capacity
6. Has 100,000 sq ft head office and customs warehouse in Macclesfield, Cheshire
7. Opened its on-site unique research and development facility in 2001
8. Conducts thousands of product tests every month at its research and development facility
9. Achieved ISO 9001 in 2001
10. Sells over 10 million screws of just one particular size and type every month
11. Is specified in leading hardware suppliers’ manuals
12. Rebranded to Rapierstar in 2005
13. Opened operations in Belfast, Ireland and Germany
14. Achieved Investors in People accreditation in 2007
15. Despatches over 2.8 million product pieces a day
16. Hosted a party for over 1000 soldiers of Mercian Regiment in new warehouse
17. Fasteners comply with EU harmonised standards
18. Products have CE marking from 2012
19. Branded screws carry unique Tri-thread ID mark on head
20. Introduced bar code technology to facilitate On-Time-In-Full supplies for all customers
21. On average processes 10,000 line items a day
22. Screw usage ‘Health Checks’ are available for all customers
23. Has unique patented products
24. Offers 20-year warranty on key stainless steel screws
25. Screws are recommended by leading PVCU profile system manufacturers