Festive focus: Bdaily chats with Edward Sexton, partner at Glencroft Countrywear

It’s that time of year again. The Christmas rush. The manic high-street shopping. The alarming convenience of one-click online purchases. The nail-biting potential for drama at the staff party.

All that aside, December’s a time when we’re able to reflect on our achievements and failures of the last 12 months, and look ahead with a bit more foresight and wisdom than we had this time last year.

The Festive Focus series we’re running this month will look to highlight all that and more. Throughout each week in December, we’ll be sharing insights from key businesspeople in the North East, Yorkshire & Humber and London.

Today we have Edward Sexton, partner at Yorkshire Dales-based Glencroft Countrywear.

Can you introduce yourself and your business to our readers?

“My name is Edward Sexton and I’m a partner at Glencroft Countrywear, the business set up and run by my family over 30 years ago.

“We are based in a 200-year-old converted barn in the conservation village of Clapham in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and produce traditional, luxury clothing made from natural fibres including British wool, sheepskin and Harris Tweed.

“I graduated from London South Bank University with a degree in Marketing and Law in 2003, and spent several years living and working in London, before completing a CIM Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing in 2012.

“I returned from London in 2013, to be back amongst the dry-stone walls of the Dales where I grew up, because I’m passionate about the local, rural nature of the family business and wanted to use my marketing expertise to help develop and grow the family business into the future.

“My first steps in doing so, were to write down Glencroft’s brand values. These reflect the whole family’s ethical attitude to earning a living, whilst having a positive impact on every person they come into contact with, and can be summed up by the phrase ‘trustworthy countrywear’. Inspired by brands such as the Body Shop, Innocent Smoothies, Toms Shoes and Yorkshire Tea, I believe that Glencroft can aspire towards a similar brand positioning.

“There’s a real niche in marketing an honest British brand selling everyday luxury countrywear, at affordable prices. Proper, decent clothing that lasts and sums up the ‘get what you pay for’ mentality.”

What was your company’s biggest achievement of the year?

“It may not sound that exciting, but in November 2018, we refurbished our entire warehouse for the first time, replacing the old wool yarn boxes that have stored our products for 30 years, with modern, metal shelving units.

“This will transform our working environment to reduce the space we need for stock, tidy up our warehouse, allow us to implement new processes, and will create areas we can now use for development - such as a meeting rooms, expanded office and manufacturing facilities. It has been made possible through part-funding from the Yorkshire Dales Leader Programme (part of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development).

“Completing this has made us more excited to come into work each day, and it is key to our future growth and ambitious plans.”

How would you approach 2018 differently, given the chance?

“I constantly wish I had more hours in the day and that I’d done some things sooner. The reality is, that we do as much as we possibly can and we’re making great progress.

“I think I’d probably look back on 2018 and tell myself to chill out a bit more in 2019, and make sure that I enjoy the time away from work!”

What are your company’s plans for the new year?

“Using my background in marketing, I plan to bring these skills to bear within the family business, aiming to further develop and grow the business to make it fit for the next 30+ years, with particular focus on business development and consumer brand marketing, to increase our consumer sales arm.

“Specifically, we’re excited to introduce improved and consistent labelling and packaging across our entire 2019 range, which will also contain clear information about each product’s origin and other useful information, to help consumers understand what makes our brand different.

‘We’re also hoping to grow our Japanese export business with a first visit to our loyal customers in Tokyo and Osaka.“

What’s your favourite Christmas song?

“Well, apart from the undisputed greatest Christmas song of all time - Last Christmas by Wham! I also love a bit of The Pogues, Fairytale of New York, and minor 80s hit, Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses.”