CM Insider

The Portable Power jump starter pictured here may look familiar, even if the brand name isn’t. That’s because, for more than 20 years, Portable Power Ltd has been the exclusive manufacturer of the Snap-on branded jump starter.

From a converted farm in the small village of Flaxby in North Yorkshire, Portable Power has built and delivered in excess of 150,000 jump starters to mechanics throughout the UK. These have become one of the most recognised power packs and a familiar sight in professional garages and workshops.

Robin Turton, managing director of Portable Power, says: “We’ve always had a great relationship with Snap-on in the UK and they’ve been our only customer for over two decades. When they asked if we would consider manufacturing the unit under their Blue Point brand, it was a very difficult decision to make. After much deliberation, we felt we had to turn them down. I knew our pack was the best on the market for strength and reliability and I wanted to stand by that.”

Earlier in 2018, Portable Power began supplying its original power pack direct to mechanics, as well as to the company's growing distributor network. “It’s been a totally new direction for our company, but we’ve been blown away by the feedback we get on social media,” says Robin.

“It’s great to hear from the people who actually use the pack every day. There are many mechanics who are still using the same pack they bought over 10 years ago – a real testament to the values we hold dear as a company. Although it’s the same pack that everyone knows, we have continuously refined it to make sure it’s the best it can be. It’s what you can’t see that matters. It’s made from the toughest of materials: an ABS shell that’s so thick it’s led to many of our customers saying that it is bulletproof, detachable leads made from 400-strand pure copper cables, allowing maximum conductivity, a high burst rate battery, which instantly delivers maximum cranking amps, and solid brass connectors – not a single one of which has ever broken.

“Our latest upgrade on the 1700 has been to make it a Rapid Charge model. We’ve developed the internal workings and the charger so, when it does require charging, it will be capable of starting another car in 10 minutes and go on to be fully charged in just 2-3 hours.”

To find out more information about the Portable Power jump starter, visit