Torque Magazine Feature

Nyfast (Nylon Fasteners Ltd) is celebrating its 15th Anniversary and Directors Marcus Birkmyre and Jake Phillips are keen to recognise the Company's achievements as they reflect on the speed the Business has grown in that time.

Nylon and plastic fixings and fasteners

Nyfast – Fast by name and nature

Nyfast (Nylon Fasteners Ltd) is celebrating its 15 th anniversary and Directors Marcus Birkmyre and Jake Phillips are keen to recognise the company’s achievements as they reflect on the speed the business has grown in that time.

Starting out as a one-man operation from founder and Director, Marcus Birkmyre’s home, Nyfast has grown from strength to strength year on year in the 15 years it has been in operation. Recognising a gap in the industry and knowing there was a better way to do business, Marcus took the leap to go out on his own “Back in 2009, I started by myself, just working from my barn at home. We then bought our first unit that we occupied for six years, which we then suddenly outgrew really quickly before purchasing our current location in Basingstoke in 2018” explains Marcus.

Nyfast’s facilities work well for the team as it has the floor space and the flexibility to allow for when big orders come through. “With the mezzanine and layout, we can get nearly 6000 square foot of stock out of this unit. So, it works really well for a small company where we can hold a lot of stock boxes, bins and pallets. It’s nice just having the space,” said Marcus. The space is perfectly suited for future growth, as this is very much the team’s focus. “Whatever the next project is, however many new product ranges we need to move in here or whatever the next step is, we are in the perfect position to do that,” added Sales Director, Jake Phillips.

The location along with the range of products lines available mean that the customers Nyfast work with are from diverse fields with all manner of problems to solve. Whether it’s a unique walk in request for fir tree clips going into polo helmets, to multi pallet MOD contracts, the
team are happy to assist and help solve any of the fastening problems presented to them. “We work with fastener distributors, but we also make a conscientious effort to focus on the end user across all industries,” said Marcus. “For example what helped us through the COVID shutdown was our diverse customer base. We supplied basic PPE, elastic head banding, face shields and the nylon rivets to secure them together by the million. We weren’t relying on one particular market, so that when a number of sectors went down a bit, we had other sectors to fill the gap.”

Nyfast’s top product lines include Industry Standard Nylon Snap Rivets & Panel Fasteners, Nylon Washers &Spacers, Nylon Threaded Fasteners, PCB & LED Fasteners and Cable Clips & Clamps. Millions of these items are available in stock for next day UK dispatch from their Basingstoke
location.

Both Marcus and Jake were keen to emphasise their aid to the metal fastener market, recognising Nyfast’s niche & focus within plastic fasteners. “We know that most fastener suppliers/distributors’ focus is on metal, but for the small requirement of nylon that these companies have, we are already trusted by many to source, supply and hold stock of exactly what they need to take the pain out of these requirements. This means that there are no worries/delays for them with import, customs, small order fees or lead times. We have no intention of moving in to the metal fastener space, we want to focus on nylon and being the best in our field for service and price,” explains Jake. In addition to fastener suppliers, some notable industries that Nyfast supply include: Lighting, POS, Automotive, Electronics and many more.

Speed and efficiency are two company attributes that Marcus, Jake and the team take pride in, which they believe stems from the collaborative atmosphere they endeavour to have among the various members of staff. From enquiries, to fulfilling orders, invoicing, marketing and more, everyone understands what is going on and can step into the various roles as needed. All of the team get to have a say on new ideas or other aspects of the business, and everyone’s opinions count. This great team dynamic is helpful when decisions need to be made. “We can pivot on a dime, we can make decisions very quickly and quite major decisions as well,” said Marcus.

The team are in the process of taking the company’s website to the next level by adding more 3D render videos of products in action so customers can clearly see how they work. “This continued investment is providing another level of customer service and professionalism,” explains Jake. “Sometimes it can be tricky to describe something in words, not so much for straightforward items like cable ties and washers, but for some of the weird and wonderful clips or PCB hardware, people can watch the videos and it is so much easier to understand and comprehend.”

Nyfast’s products are sourced globally from the US, Europe, China and elsewhere. They are consistently growing the product portfolio online and provide items in a number of materials, including natural nylon, black nylon and an array of different colours on request. To touch a bit further on materials, Nyfast have also introduced their Custom Washer Service in recent times where customers can choose their desired OD, ID & Thickness as well as a drop down of over 40 different materials. There are no issues with shipping/lead times as they primarily use air freight due to the inherent lighter weights of nylon goods from their various factories worldwide. If something isn’t available from stock, it can generally be sourced quickly with minimal shipping delay, shipments leaving various factories generally on a weekly/bimonthly basis and the team keeping customers informed throughout and when necessary.

Customer service is another hallmark of Nyfast’s operations as they try to take the pain out of the process for customers – whether that’s a distributor or end user. They are happy to go above and beyond for customers as they recognise some products are so niche. Nyfast are experts in alternative sourcing and providing supply chain improvements – not only from a cost perspective, but on service and lead times too. As a small company with low overheads, great savings can be reflected to their customers. “We like taking that extra level of care whether that’s on the phone or when it is packing an order, it’s got to be done right to our self set high standards,” concluded Jake.

https://nyfast.com/