Dragons’ Den star Theo Paphitis, who was in Bristol yesterday thursday launching his new lingerie store Boux Avenue, has spoken of his hopes for the future of British manufacturing, and says there’s never been a better time to start a new business.
Mr Paphitis, who opened his store in Cabot Circus, says the secret to retail success is knowing your market and pricing accordingly: “Lingerie doesn’t really get too affected by recession especially at this price range… This is mass market prices and you can treat yourself.”
He went on to say that the right location can make or break a business, and it’s worth biding your time for the right opportunity to come up.
“I would have liked to open my store in Bristol this time last year, but it has taken us that long to get this store,” he said. “We had choices, like everybody else, in going to other centres, but to be frank for us it wouldn’t have been correct. This is really our customer base. It’s a nice environment and the brands are here. It’s a great shopping area and Boux fits in well in Cabot.”
Mr Paphitis said that the decision by Dragons’ Den reject and Trunki inventor Rob Law to bring manufacturing back to the UK was a model that could help kick start a new era of UK manufacturing.
Mr Law, who runs Trunki from his Bristol HQ in the Dings, announced earlier this year that his children’s suitcase range would be made in Devon rather than China. He recently told This is Bristol: “It has been a long-held dream of mine to make things back here.”
“When we first set up that was not possible at all – it was just far too expensive – but things have changed recently; The devaluation of our sterling currency against the US dollar, the cost of labour in China keeps going up. About 12 months ago I looked to see if it was possible to make our Trunki back in the UK again.”
Mr Law said the cost of manufacturing in China was still generally cheaper than the UK, but the rising costs of shipping stock around the world and other production issues has made the UK a much more attractive proposition for production.
Theo Paphitis explains how other retail enterprises could follow Trunki’s example, and gives his advice to new businesses owners
This is Bristol
