Nottingham bra brand set to explore China

A Nottingham-based underwear brand, which caters for women with smaller-than-average breasts, is set to explore the blossoming Chinese market next month, where the average bra size is three sizes smaller than in the UK.

Little Women is taking its own-brand bra range, which goes from AAA up to a B, on an independent British trade mission to China and Hong Kong– where the average size is 34B, compared to a an average of 36DD here in the UK.

Little Women owner Caroline Jackson is set to jet off with 20 British brands next month as part of a subsidised trip which is aimed at offering small firms the kind of export opportunities to small firms that are usually only available to bigger, more established companies.

Jackson’s average own-brand bra costs £28.75 but the range offered on the site can go up to £66. At the moment 85 per cent of her sales are in the UK, 13 per cent in North America and just two per cent to the rest of the world.

Jackson said: “We cater for quite a niche market, selling globally, but to have the opportunity to export to China and the rest of South East Asia in a structured fashion as opposed to in an organic way as per at present, will be a phenomenal boost for us.

“Women there are petite in stature and are often smaller all over, compared to women here. If the average bra size in China is 34B, I know from experience that there will be a very large percentage under that.”

According to research, China’s underwear market is worth more than $20 billion and 60 per cent of it is dominated by foreign brands. Chinese women spend around 10 per cent of their income on lingerie.

High–end British brand Agent Provocateur recently opened four shops in China, two in Beijing, one in Shanghai and one in Chengdu. It reported sales were 25 per cent ahead of expectations.

The mission to China and Hong Kong, is being run by small business support group Enterprise Nation, and is being supported by private sector sponsors including global delivery firm UPS, HSBC, KPMG, Invest HK, Alibaba, Gatwick Airport and international airline Cathay Pacific.

Jackson will be joined by a British wallpaper manufacturer called Paperboy, and a Brighton-based jewellery design firm that currently sells on Not on the High Street, amongst others including British tech manufacturing platform Utelier and Wigan-based logistics company 3P Logistics.

Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation and mission leader who was speaking in Nottingham at the city’s first ever “Meet Up” event said: “Small firms that export are more confident, introduce new products, are more likely to seek investment and have significantly higher growth expectations than companies that don’t.

“They don’t get the opportunities or the trade deals that big businesses benefit from and yet they still find a way to export, but the frustrating thing is that they would dearly like to do it much more.

“The export potential amongst the smallest firms is huge, but they need some significant help and subsidy to get them to where they need to be and this trip is a no brainer for firms that are now looking beyond Europe to trade.”

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