Hello lovely people. Jane here. By now you may have already seen the big news about our little company. We’ve had to keep it a bit quiet but we can finally share this with all of you who’ve been supporting us in our up-and-down, never-a-dull-moment journey with Sugru over the last few years. 

We’re taking the big step to join forces with tesa SE, one of the world's leading brands in adhesive solutions. With more than 100 years of history inventing and selling breakthrough products for fixers, makers, craftspeople and professionals, tesa will be backing our vision for Sugru and bringing it to many more millions of fixers and DIYers around the world. 

I have dedicated 15 incredible years to the Sugru mission of creative fixing. And I'm so proud of all we have achieved. The awards, new patents and inventions, a dynamic global expansion, not to mention building a thriving community of clever fixers around the world. Today there are more than 2 million people using Sugru and together we’ve fixed over 14 million things.

With a mission this ambitious though, it’s time for the company to get stronger. That’s why we’re joining forces with tesa – to take the business, and the movement, to the next level. Our shared vision is for me, along with the rest of the team here at Sugru, to remain, and to continue building the brand and the company, with the help of tesa’s long-established global distribution and business strength.

For those of you who may not have heard of it, we should say that tesa is quite a special company. Headquartered in the northern German city of Norderstedt, next to Hamburg, its story also began with an accidental invention – one that led to the world’s first technical adhesive tape back in 1896. Cool eh? 

tesa is part of the larger Beiersdorf Group which also owns the Nivea and Elastoplast brands, among others. It is so successful in most of Europe that the tesa brand has almost 100% brand awareness in some places. In Germany for example, the famous tesa trademark is even in the dictionary.

One lesson we can learn from tesa is that change doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a long time for inventions to become universal. So here’s to doing great things together, with our eye on the next 100 years!

In 2017, tesa generated €1.3 billion in sales and employed more than 4,100 people worldwide. It’s a large global business that has taken its social and environmental responsibility seriously for many years.

tesa is a member of the United Nations Global Compact, a UN initiative that drives Sustainable Development Goals, and supports businesses, large and small, to align with ten principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. It has built in-house power generation infrastructure to lower CO₂ emissions and developed new product technologies with primarily recycled or natural materials. We are thrilled that Sugru has found a new home that prioritises the protection of the planet and its people.

The company culture at tesa is one of looking after its team, of nurturing and growing people. We love its commitment to quality and innovation, and how it invests in young people. On one of the days that I visited, the large and airy company lobby was buzzing with teenage girls taking part in a hackathon using tesa tapes.

So what will change? What does this mean for me as a Sugru user?

Mostly – very little! You’ll still be able to buy Sugru everywhere you can today. The community, our social media, our newsletters and our place in the wider fixing movement, will remain just as you know and love. I and the rest of the team will keep working and building, pursuing our mission and serving you, our fixers and makers.

What about the company’s shareholders?

100% of ownership of the company has now transferred to tesa SE. So all of those amazing supporters, who made up our shareholder community, have now sold their shares. Without them, Sugru wouldn’t exist today. As the financial return was below expectations, it's even more important that we honour the pivotal role our investors played in securing the future of this useful and important invention. They have our utmost gratitude, and that will always be the case.

So what now?

We’ll be able to take new strides to grow bigger, get stronger and go further in our mission to help get people everywhere fixing and making. Our motto here is: start small and make it good. And that stands today as much as ever.

We have a brand new future to build with our friends at tesa… and we’re only just getting started.

You can learn more about Jane’s journey over on Our Story page, and all about tesa at tesa.com.