Meet the TEAM
Who We Are
In 1949 Ripmax first opened its doors as a Toy & Model Shop based in Camden Town. Focusing on the popularity of Radio control, the co-founder, Max Coote, decided to concentrate on design and sale of exclusive lines of modelling goods, primarily accessories for model boats.
The 'Everyman's Model Shop' as it was known Ripmax soon became recognised as the 'Radio Control Specialist', and it wasn't long before Max was looking at manufacturing and supplying to the model trade directly.
Constantly meeting the public demand, Ripmax grew from strength to strength through the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, acquiring warehousing and employing more than 70 full time members of staff along the way.
In the last 20 years Ripmax has also grown thanks to the acquisition of Irvine Ltd, Amerang Ltd and HPI Racing Ltd to become one of the largest hobby/toy distributors across Europe.
Our History
1949
Ripmax was founded by Max Coote and Arthur Ripon as a model shop in Camden town in London.
2003
Ripmax and Irvine limited merged. This change brought some of the best known brands in the hobby industry under one roof with Irvine staff moving into the Ripmax headquarters in Enfield.
2013
Ripmax purchased the toy/hobby distributor Amerang to expand into the collectibles market sector. Amerang stock moved into the Ripmax Enfield warehouse to improve logistics while the experienced Amerang staff remained in a Worthing office.
2015
Ripmax GMBH was started as a dedicated company to distribute Ripmax and brands such as Futaba across European markets. A dedicated German office was setup to provide service and support.
2016
Ripmax purchased the Derbyshire based R/C car company HPI Racing. HPI is a world wide premium brand for radio control cars that is a great fit for the Ripmax group. HPI continue to operate from the Derbyshire headquarters with Ripmax GMBH controlling distribution across Europe.