Sportswear brand expanding with move to Liverpool
Castore, the premium sportswear brand, is moving into a new head office in Liverpool as the fast-growing business steps up expansion.
The company, founded by brothers Tom and Phil Beahon, is moving out of its offices in Chester after two years which have seen it grow from a start-up to a business with customers around the world.
The new 2,000 sq ft premises in the Tempest building in Tithebarn Street will give the company double the space it has now for its design and marketing teams, as well as for storage.
As part of this month’s move Castore will be taking on up to 10 new staff immediately to add to its existing team of six, but it plans to take on a further 15 people over the next 12 months.
Tom Beahon said: “We are really sad to be saying goodbye to Chester, which has given us such a good start, but the move to Liverpool makes sense for the next stage in the company’s growth.
“We are delighted to be moving to a larger office in Liverpool.
“There is a huge amount of activity in the city at the moment and a number of ambitious young businesses are making their home there. We are proud to be part of this growing trend.”
Castore sells its range of men’s sportswear through its website and has seen sales grow to £750,000 in 2017, and are on track to reach £2.7m in 2018. It also has plans to open stores in the UK and overseas.
“The business is growing rapidly and the move will enable us to take on more people in design, on the website and in marketing,” added Tom.
“We looked at a number of locations in the North West, but Liverpool was our first choice in terms of premises, transport links and value for money.”
Castore designs its clothes in the UK and production is done by a specialist textile factory in Portugal.
Andrew Byrne, associate director of property agents CBRE, said: “Castore is a great brand to attract to the building and fits in well with the existing tenant mix.
“The community which has been created at Tempest and the amenity which is offered as part of being a tenant is something which very few landlords can offer.
“We are now down to the last floor and have very strong interest in a number of the suites.”
Castore raised £3.2m in June 2018 from high profile private investors including Arnaud Massenet, who helped to raise the funding for the launch of the Net-a-Porter fashion group, and Robert Senior, the former worldwide chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi, the global advertising agency.
The fund raising was also supported by Tom Singh, the New Look founder, who took part in a £1.2m fundraising in September 2017, and is the company’s largest investor.
