stuartakay

Hello I just read your email about Steadfast Tools. I was Marketing Director for Steadfast for 2 years from c.1985 or 1986. I was principally responsible for developing their private brand and European business, as I lived in France at the time and used to commute to the UK once a month. Steadfast, founded many years ago, by Jack Stead, went into liquidation around 1983/4 and was acquired by Richard H Green, a chartered surveyor. He injected money into the company and was turning it round at the time I joined. They company manufactured a considerable range of screwdrivers, including a new 'silent' ratchet screwdriver, named 'Silentorque.' They were also the leading producer of Junior Hacksaw Blades and did a lot of business with this product. They made the mistake of trying to enter the full-size Hacksaw blade market, then dominated by the likes of James Neill, Charles Baynes (Vanguard) and Slack Sellars (Speed). Around that time Richard Green and I fell out and I left to start a hand tools agency in Europe. Steadfast sold out to James Neill who started up production the new hacksaw blade plant. Unfortunately for them they ran into many problems trying to produce a quality blade at a low price. I had personal experience of the quality issues because I landed a contract for Neills for the new hacksaw blades, with a major tool distributor in Grenoble France. The blades were for a major school contract, and when they were delivered I received a phone call from the distributor's managing director who described them as 'n'importe quoi.' This roughly translates as 'garbage.' I had to try and pull a rabbit out of the bag and find some more blades. Fortunately, I had contacts at Slack Sellers, who were able to deliver quickly at the same price, so the contract went to them. I don't know if Neills ever solved the quality problems of the Steadfast hacksaw blades or what happened to the brand name after that, as I have been living abroad since then. The story about the hacksaw blades is not exactly what you were asking about but I thought you might like to hear it anyway! Regards Stuart Kay