STARTUP HIGH STREET

If you live in London then the chances are, you might have seen the posters for Startup High-Street. Sir Plus has been selected as one of "Britain's Most Promising New Businesses" and invited to take part in their new scheme - "Popup Britain".

We'll be exhibiting in the Pop up shop in Richmond from Monday the 1st, to Sunday the 14th. There's a bit more info below.

( p.s. There's talk of wine on Thursday evenings..)

StartUp High Street was created to give new British brands the opportunity of a lifetime - to get their products onto the High Street.

With the support of prominent retail entrepreneurs including Sir Charles Dunstone, Luke Johnson and Mary Portas; Richmond MP, Zac Goldsmith; Enterprise Adviser to the PM, Lord Young; and StartUp Britain sponsors, we hope this concept will help invigorate the High Street and give hundreds of start-up businesses a sporting chance.

POPUP BRITAIN

A temporary shop in Richmond which will be occupied by Britain’s most promising small enterprises for two weeks on a rolling basis. All of these start-up retailers already run online businesses, but none of them have the financial clout to take on a shop single-handed.  That's why StartUp Britain has stepped in to offer a co-working, co-funded space for brands to explore new ways of working - and a whole new audience. From Richmond, we hope to take the concept to other High Streets across Britain, throwing open empty shops across the land for the benefit of local start-up retailers. 

Cracking Feedback

Sir Plus loves feedback, but this one takes the biscuit.
It comes in the form of a great snap and a little note, from a customer at the stall in Spitalfields.
It's made our day, so we thought we'd share it with you.

Kind regards,

Sir Plus

Vancouver Sun

Occasionally Sir Plus gets caught off guard. The latest incident happened this week, when there was an influx of orders from Canada. Was this a hoax? Had Justin Beiber stepped out in one of our waistcoats?

Fortunately it was neither. Instead, we had received a wonderful bit of coverage in the Vancouver Sun. A little picture of the stall and a nice feature from a lovely journalist called Rebecca Tay, who was supposed to be on duty, but ended up buying a pair of our finest ladies briefs.

Thanks to all those across the Atlantic who purchased our attire and emailed in support.

Good to have y'all on board!

Regards,


Sir Plus

Our bit says:

"Henry Hales, a 23-year-old real estate grad looking for a more interesting career, is the self-taught designer of Sir Plus (www.sirplus.co.uk). A relative newcomer to Spitalfields, having sold there for just one year, his enthusiasm is contagious and his boxer shorts (£22) and waistcoats (from £65), all made using "cabbage", the offcuts and surplus fabric ends left by other companies, are popular sellers (I can't resist buying a pair). Hales also sells at Portobello Market on Fridays and Saturdays and travels to school shows; he already has customers in the United States, Austria and Germany."

Read the full article online

Maketh the Man

If you've managed to find your way onto our blog, then hopefully you know what Sir Plus does and how it came about. If you don't, here's a little article that sums it up quite well.

Thanks Maketh the Man!

Olympic Opinion

Whilst doing business at Spitalfields a couple of weeks ago, I was approached by an artist called Oleg Tolstoy. He was doing a piece called Olympic Opinion - asking people to write their view of the Olympics onto a Polaroid of themselves.
I went to the preview last week and was really impressed. You can read about it in the Standard, or go to the exhibition at the Bermondsey Project yourself.

Just to clarify - I was hoping it would be good for business, but I'm sure it's great for the busses as well.
Fortunately Portobello and Spitalfields over the weekend were buzzing with Olympic visitors gagging for fresh boxers and smart waistcoats. Looks like I got what I hoped for!

Secret Garden Party

The Secret Garden Party and the Game Fair are two big events in Sir Plus' calendar, which unfortunately clash. The dilemma for Sir Plus is that whilst SGP might be funner, exhibiting at the Game Fair makes more commercial sense.

Where are you more likely to sell boxers, waistcoats and flat caps? A country show, or a music festival?

Therefore the space was booked at the Game Fair and the Secret Garden Party was all but forgotten. Then, the GF was cancelled, due to the poor weather conditions and we were offered a place in the Secret Emporium. It was inevitably going to be be a memorable few days, however, we were interested to see how the Sir Plus gear would be received in a retail environment different from any other. 

We're delighted to report a great sales weekend . Flat caps and woollen socks were all the rage in the first couple of days, when the rain was pouring down. Then the sun came out and T-shirts and waistcoats were on. There was a bit of time in the evenings to enjoy the scene, so delight all round...

Big thanks to all who helped out, visited the stall and to our many new customers. 

Now we have the dilemma of deciding what to do next year, fingers crossed the dates won't clash!

Regards,

Sir Plus

The 2012 (Chap) Olympics

Good fortune was on our side over the weekend, as the rain held off, allowing the 8th Chap Olympiad to take place un-disturbed.

Competitions included Cucumber Sandwich Discus, Umbrella Jousting, Butler Baiting and Not Playing Tennis. All athletes were well trained and the spectators were impressed with the skill and the level of their professionalism.

This was the first year that the event has taken place over two days and this is likely to be a permanent schedule change. The Olympiad is a highlight in Sir Plus' calendar and we thoroughly recommend you attend next year. For more information, visit the Chap Magazine.