Gift Focus - Jan/Feb 2018 (Issue 105)

Why did you decide to start up the company Drake & Hutch? It was myself and a group of close friends who wanted to see a greater variety of fun and vibrant every day essentials that could really show case a person’s individual personality. Our long-term goal is to rid the world of dull grey socks! What challenges did you overcome as a new company? Obtaining finance was probably the biggest hurdle. We’re all from a clothing design background, so getting the designs and quality right was easy – convincing banks to give us money was not! In the end we managed to obtain a small £3,000 loan, which we paid off a while back and going forwards our aim is to be 100 per cent self-sufficient, growing naturally. Where does the name come from? It’s a mix from our childhood really. I went to a school where the houses were named after famous British captains so Hawkins, Raleigh etc. and I was in Drake house. One of my friends who helped set up the business has been called Hutchey for as long as I can remember, we put the two together (dropping the “ey”) and liked the sound… it really took off from there! Tell us a bit about your product offering. What makes you different? There are plenty of novelty socks out there that are fun and a bit different. Ours really stand out due to their quality and sense of style mixed with British humour. We use a thicker cotton weave than our competitors, providing greater comfort for the wearer and longer durability. Our socks can be worn time after time and still feel great. Are you planning on branching into other product areas? We’re about to launch a small range of lambswool hats and scarves. This is a bit of a trial really, we found an amazing family-run factory based in Hawick along the Scottish borders and we wanted to support them while offering something a little different to our loyal customers. We’ve also just launched a hand-made leather football and all proceeds from this will go to Prostate Cancer UK. How do you market your business? Do you attend any trade shows? So far we have worked on word of mouth and getting out there speaking to customers. We have a growing business in the US where our Britishness really works well and we’re actively targeting stockists in the UK to grow this side of the business. We’re offering very attractive introductory rates to facilitate this. What’s your proudest achievement to date? I should probably say setting up D&H! It has taken an enormous amount of work to get where we are, but because we’re so ambitious we don’t really look back at what we have achieved as often as we perhaps should. What are your hopes for the future? In the short term, I’d like to see D&H stocked in boutiques in every village, town and city in the UK. Long term, I’d love to see the brand expand into the Far East and maybe take onboard more of a global influence. Drake & Hutch was born to a group of young designers who wanted to see an end to the boring grey socks seen in every man or woman’s drawer. Gift Focus talks to Director Peter McGuinness For more information, email info@drakeandhutch.com ; peter@drakeandhutch.com; or visit the website drakeandhutch.com socks appeal 210 giftfocus