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Gloucestershire Business News

Gloucestershire childhood sweethearts fly high with clothing brand

Two childhood sweethearts from Nailsworth are flying high as sales soar at their online clothing brand, Goose & Gander.

Olly White and Maz Hewish, who dated in primary school before splitting up, started the brand as teenagers, straight after leaving school nine years ago.

Goose & Gander, which makes baggy T-shirts, sweatshirts, fleeces and hoodies, is a big favourite with university students.

Its sweatshirts retail for £25-£35, hoodies for £27.50-£40 and T-shirts for £15-£20. Orders have shot up from 27,000 to 150,000 in the last four years, as 18-24-year-olds look for comfortable unisex clothing.

Goose & Gander, which employs 25 people, is one of the fastest growing online retailers in the UK, with sales growth of 119%.

It was 13th in the Lightning 50 - a list of the UK's 25 leading ecommerce brands companies compiled by Bristol-based Brightpearl. The firm was also crowned the fastest growing brand in the South West of England.

Olly, 28, is responsible for business strategy, running the website and production at the HQ in Chipping Sodbury, while Maz, 28, specialises in everything creative, including photoshoots and social media.

Olly said: "We began dating again after leaving school and when I told Maz that I wanted to start a business she was keen to come on board, too.

"I love working with my girlfriend. We are both obsessed with running the business. Having a business partner who puts in an equal amount of effort and time is important."

Maz said: "It's been interesting knowing Olly from a young age, through school to now running a business with him. Just as the business has evolved throughout the years, we've both evolved too."

Olly and Maz grew up in the same street in North Nibley, Gloucestershire, and both attended Rosehill Primary School, which has since closed.

They set up Goose & Gander shortly after leaving secondary school, having turned down places at university. They started by selling T-shirts embroidered with their designs out of a small shop in Wotton-under-Edge.

After being featured on ASOS Marketplace in 2016, their Lino T-shirt began generating a lot of attention.

As sales grew, they shut the shop and moved to their current 5,300 sq ft workplace in Chipping Sodbury, where they have industrial embroidery machines, printing equipment, sewing machines, stock and packaging stations.

They have since acquired a total of 10,000 sq ft of industrial and office space to help support the growth of the business.

The key to managing the explosion in sales was bringing in back-office software specialists Brightpearl, which transformed the online operation.

Olly said: "Brightpearl has given us back so much time every day - our team gets our orders out five times faster than before, and we're freed up to focus on more important aspects of growing the business."

Goose & Gander's unisex collections are only sold on its own website. It has been approached by many retailers which want to stock the brand, but the founders want to keep it exclusive.

All images credit: Goose & Gander

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