Jordan Daykin, the owner of GripIt fixings, is urging fellow inventors and entrepreneurs to turn their great ideas into reality by entering the Travis Perkins Innovation Awards (deadline 30 June). The Awards are sponsored by hard landscaping company Marshalls.

Now a £14million business, Jordan's GripIt fixings are a testament to the importance of making the most of any opportunity to turn an idea into reality.

Travis Perkins, the builders merchant, launched its Innovation Awards to discover and nurture ideas similar to GripIt fixings, with a focus on moving the industry forward and solving the everyday frustrations of trade professionals.

Jordan says: “My only choice was to go on television [Dragon's Den] to secure investment, develop my product, and get a foot in the door with national stockists. I would have loved an audience with TP and would have jumped at the chance to enter these awards if they had been around when I first started.

“Travis Perkins PLC is offering the chance for anyone with a great idea to go straight to them – this is really a great opportunity that could change someone’s life.”

Jordan started GripIt fixings from his garden shed when he was only 13. His universal plaster board fitting secured investment from Deborah Meaden on Dragons’ Den in 2014 and has since become a business worth £14million. His product is stocked by Travis Perkins and Wicks (which Travis Perkins owns).

This is the builders merchant's first Innovation Awards. They are open to anyone and entries can be simple sketches to detailed proposals.

Prizes may include financial investment and business support for product and idea development, an opportunity to trial products in selected Travis Perkins outlets, or business mentoring and support from Travis Perkins’s senior team.

Organised by the Innovate team at Travis Perkins, the main sponsor is hard landscaping product company Marshalls.

For further information or to enter the Travis Perkins Innovation Awards visit www.tpia.co.uk.