Failing GCSE exams didn’t discourage these entrepreneurs from reaching the top

“The belief that academic performance is the only route to professional success is misguided,” Jordan Daykin, founder of Gripit Fixings, the plasterboard fixings business, said. “88% of my employees never attended university, nor did I, yet together we’ve built a global £20m business and we’re not an anomaly.” The youngest applicant to get investment on Dragons’ Den at the age of 13, Daykin believes that schools should focus more on developing skills rather than memorising textbooks.