No dragons here
By Matt Cooney,
Idealog November/December 2006, page 21. Photograph by Ian Robertson
Why Alan Hucks didn’t need The Dragons’ Den.
The dragons of Dragons’ Den never got their chance to pitch for Alan Hucks’ radical designchain. Inspired by the bicycle chain, Hucks designed an interactive, modular storage rack that folds, twists and looks amazing. Once he’d come up with the design, he went looking for money and called on the Dragons’ Den producers.
But before he could join the cadres of reality TV talent, Hucks showed a wine rack version of the designchain to Alan Bertenshaw of high-end furniture distributor Matisse. Bertenshaw was immediately struck by the invention and was ready to invest—and Hucks’ TV career was over before it had begun.
Bertenshaw’s contacts and experience are more important to Hucks than the cash. “I control design and manufacture,” says Hucks. “He controls marketing and sales.” Hip Sydney store Space has already placed an order for 400 designchains, and the partners are targeting the US, Germany, Italy and the UK.
If sales go well Hucks plans to release smaller and larger versions for, say, spice racks or kids’ clothing storage. The designchain and all other designs will fit the Hucks credo, he says: New Zealand-made designs that capture ingenuity, pure fun and versatility.
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