Costume manufacturer set to make a show on the global stage
A LEEDS costume manufacturer is looking to expand its presence globally.
Fun Shack UK already exports to countries in the European Union, Australia and New Zealand, and has appointed overseas trade support organisation Chamber International to help it boost its international footprint.
The firm generates £4m annual turnover and has created 25 new jobs since launching in 2008. Director Jeffrey Fearnley said: “So far overseas sales represent 8% of turnover but we want to do more.
“Our research and design centre allows us to understand local markets and create outfits specifically for local cultures which, although they may differ, have a common factor of appreciating quality and value.”
The company is based in a factory in Shafton Lane, Holbeck, the former base of the world’s biggest cloth cap manufacturer, JW Myers, which closed in 2000 after 111 years and relocated manufacturing facilities to Panyu, China.
Fun Shack is one of many businesses looking to ramp up exports as part of the of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership’s We are International initiative which aims to bring an additional £1.6bn into the economy of the ten local authority areas and create thousands of new jobs.
Directors Jeffrey Fearnley, Geoff Key and Harvey Felstone began exporting in 2012 and now aim to become a properly international business.
Chamber International senior export adviser, David Attia, a former international sales director with Jacuzzi, Bradford, said: “Fun Shack (UK) Ltd makes fantastic costumes and they certainly have significant potential. It is still early days but we’re looking forward to helping the company take its brand of fun overseas.”
