Clothing firm Finest Brands eyes expansion after relocation deal struck

Eric Hawthorn, radio design ltd, Welcome to Yorkshire in Nice. 1 July 2013. Picture Bruce Rollinson

Finest Brands will move to new premises in the Hunslett area of the city, having invested £1.35 million in the relocation and customisation of the new premises, funded through a commercial mortgage, director’s loans and grant funding from the LEP.

Since moving to its new premises, which comprise 50,000 sq ft of warehouse space and 8,000 sq ft of offices, the company has strengthened its workforce with a number of new appointments.

A manufacturer of equestrian riding hats, body protectors, and sportswear and outdoor fashions, Finest Brands is the exclusive supplier of the ‘Champion’ range of British-made high performance riding hats and body protectors for the horse riding, show jumping and horse racing markets.

Clients of the £8 million turnover business include three-time Olympic medallist Pippa Funnell and many other prolific riders such as champion jockey Ruby Walsh, who has ridden over 2000 winners.

Managing director Sarah-Jane Fedarb said: “Finest Brands has been based at our previous premises in Leeds since the company was set up in 1990.

“However, the site had become far too small and we needed to lease additional warehouse facilities to cope with the growth of the business and increasing diversity of our product range. As we were approaching the end of our lease, it made sense to consolidate operations in a single location to improve customer service and ensure we afforded ourselves room to grow the business in future.”

The new premises are the former operations base for packaging and logistics company Samuel Grant Ltd, which earlier this year moved to a new, purpose-built warehouse and head office facility in the Leeds City Region Enterprise Zone after 50 years at the site in Hunslet.

Eric Hawthorn, managing director of Radio Design and chair of the LEP’s Business Innovation and Growth panel, said: “The LEP can support businesses based in the region who want to grow or upskill their staff. All you need to do is pick up the phone and speak to one of our business support team who can talk through the options available.”