A North Tyneside-headquartered fashion label, Fresh Couture, is targeting growth after securing a £250,000 investment from the North East Growth Capital Fund.
The sports-contemporary and urban wear fashion brand currently sells its product range through more than 50 retailers, including JD Sports and Foot Asylum, as well as via its own website.
Fresh Couture has worked with regional fund management firm NEL Fund Managers to secure the investment, which was supported by the European Regional Development Fund.
The firm will use the fund to bring more of its product design, marketing and web design work in house, while increasing the size of its menswear range over the next four seasons, as well as launching its first ever women’s clothing range.
“Bringing more of our design work in-house gives us greater control over the creative processes and will enable us to implement more of our ideas in ways which we know will give our customers what they want,” said chief operating officer Dale Parr.
“We’re now beginning on a dramatic expansion of our menswear range which will be driven by a detailed understanding and appreciation of what our customers want from us, and this knowledge will also translate into the women’s range that we will soon have available.”
The management team is aiming to quadruple the firm’s turnover with four jobs expected to be created.
Partners at RSM in Newcastle Richard Urron and Neil Hindley recommended NEL Fund Managers to Fresh Couture and are working with the business on its continuing development.
Originally published in InsiderMedia.