Yorkshire fashion startup celebrates £1m milestone despite Brexit wobble

Menswear startup, HebTroCo has hit the £1m turnover mark following slight troubles with Brexit.

The business idea sparked from a conversation about whether it would be possible to get Hebden Bridge, nicknamed ‘Trouser Town’ during the industrial revolution for the volume of garments it produced, making trousers again.

Co-founders Brant Richards and Ed Oxley launched a Kickstarter to start it, but the firm has supposedly had delays since the EU Referendum in 2016.

HebTroCo’s co-founder, Ed Oxley, said: “The first time we ordered cloth we’d had a quotation, then the Brexit vote happened and it went up by 10 per cent.

“That was a bit of a blow - but we’re from Yorkshire, so we just get on with it. We’ve been through civil war, we’ve been through the industrial revolution, something like Brexit’s not going to stop us.

“But really, we don’t have much choice because we don’t know what Brexit is, so what can we do other than carry on? And here we are, anyway! £1m. That’s brilliant.”

SMEs account for 52 per cent of all private sector turnover and 60 per cent of all private sector employment in the UK, but at the start of last year there were 27,000 fewer British businesses than at the start of 2017.

In spite of the challenges posed by the current environment, however, HebTroCo has sold over 6,000 pairs of trousers to customers across the world.

Brant added: “We had a stupid idea down the pub and now we’re stuck with it. We’re up against fast, dirty fashion, the challenges of Brexit and a market that’s geared towards big businesses selling cheap. But it’s working!”

Now in its fourth year, the company has expanded to include additional menswear items and accessories including boots, jackets, belts and even pocket knives.

HebTroCo currently works with makers from Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.