Briers on trend at Moda February 2014

Briers, the specialist gloves and footwear designer, manufacturer and distributer, is exhibiting at Moda February 2014, the fashion exhibition taking place at the NEC, Birmingham. Taking centre stage on the company’s stand will be the exclusive HemingwayDesign range.

Briers will also be showcasing its extensive range of fashionable and quality footwear at the event. Collections on display will include the Briers Boppers and Stardust ankle boots.

Former Red or Dead proprietors, Wayne Hemingway MBE and Gerardine Hemingway MBE, have, with their award winning HemingwayDesign team, created a collection of gardening wellies, gloves and rainmacs exclusive to Briers. The ranges comprise:

• Pop Splash, inspired by the pop art movement that emerged in the UK and the US in the 1950s
• Grid, inspired by table tops in 1950s caffs and early lino floors
• Tulips, a collection inspired by the wide variety of colours seen in tulips, from mustard and grey to blue and green
• Typo, giving some of the HemingwayDesign team’s favourite fonts an airing in the form of words about wellies

Jackie Eades, Founder and Managing Director of Briers said: “To have Wayne and Gerardine on board is fantastic. They are renowned in the fashion industry and these new ranges – bespoke to Briers – means gardeners everywhere can look amazing, no matter what the weather or setting.”

Moda comprises five shows focusing on men and women’s fashions, footwear, lingerie & swimwear and accessories. A programme of seminars over the event’s three days offers retailers business tips relevant to the current climate and season.

Briers is a specialist gardening footwear brand and the licensee behind the GIMA (Gardening Industry Manufacturers’ Association) award-winning Gruffalo® range of children’s gardening clothes and accessories.

Briers products can be found in a number of fashion retailers across the country along with Wilkinsons, B&Q, Dobbies, The Garden Centre Group, Blue Diamond and Garden and Leisure as well as independent garden centres and DIY stores. Briers also supplies to major national wholesalers such as Decco.

Moda February 2014 takes place from 16-18 February 2014 at the NEC, Birmingham. Briers is exhibiting on stand S28 in Hall 19.

For more information on Briers products, visit www.briersltd.co.uk.

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Briers Backgrounder

Briers is a specialist gardening gloves and footwear brand. The company is also the licensee behind the GIMA (Gardening Industry Manufacturers’ Association) award-winning Gruffalo® range of children’s gardening clothes and accessories.

In the last three years, Briers has launched Stardust Wellingtons, Floral patterned gloves with matching kneelers, Boppers and High Heeled Boots. This period has coincided with a steady rise in turnover – including a 50% increase in 2012 - despite pressures on consumer spending. Retail customers of Briers have also reported a growing demand for the brand.

A willingness to create bespoke ranges for retailers and unrivalled customer care are major contributory factors in the growth of Briers. Also significant is the influence of Founder and Managing Director, Jackie Eades, who provides a female perspective into what has traditionally been a male-dominated sector. Jackie has led Briers through a series of ground-breaking developments in gardening product retail. The Gruffalo range, for example, has proved a highly successful product licensing initiative, leading the way in its sector. Demand for wellington boots, meanwhile, continues to grow, helped by Briers’ appealing designs and innovative marketing.

Looking ahead, Jackie has also built excellent relationships with manufacturing partners in China to ensure best practice in production in the years ahead.

Briers customers

Briers’ target audience is made up of people typically aged 40 plus and falling within the ABC1 socio-economic group. Customers choose Briers because they want fashionable design without compromising functionality or quality of manufacture. Briers’ products are in the mid-market price range and enjoy broad appeal.

Briers products

The current Briers product range comprises:

Gloves – over 50 SKUs, RRPs (recommended retail prices) from £9.99

Leather gloves, washable gloves, children’s gloves, ladies’ gloves, all rounder and seedling gloves and workwear gloves.

Footwear - over 20 SKUs RRPs from £39.99 - £49.99

Garden clogs, ankle boots, adult and children’s wellington boots, high heeled boots, Boppers and Stardust ankle boots.

The Gruffalo® range for children.

Fleece jacket, pack-away rain mac, wellington boots, wellington boot warmers, gardening kneeler, watering can, umbrella, gardening gloves, gardening rake, fork, trowel and hat, glove and scarf set.

Brand profile

Briers’ flair for retail and merchandising has attracted extensive editorial coverage in several high circulation consumer and trade publications. These include GTN (Garden Trade News), Horticulture Week, FE Magazine (Fashion & Footwear Extras), Daily Mail Weekend Magazine, Garden News and Kitchen Garden. In September 2012, Woman and Home magazine, which has a circulation of 350,000, published a profile on Jackie Eades.

Briers retains the services of the specialist public relations consultancy, redheadPR, whose clients in the gardening sector also include Stewart Garden and John Woods Nurseries. The consultancy is headed up by Sara Tye, an award-winning and top 500 international PR, who has also worked with major consumer brands such as Green & Black’s, Nokia and Frangi Tie Rack. Sara has extensive experience of managing client relationships with celebrities. She has worked closely with many well-known figures, including TV presenter, comedienne and psychologist Ruby Wax and grow your own specialist and regular broadcaster Pippa Greenwood.

Briers’ ethics

Wherever possible, Briers uses manufacturers that are members of Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange). Sedex is a not-for-profit membership organisation that drives improvements in ethical and responsible business practices in global supply chains. Briers also operates ethical policies on the environment, human rights and animal welfare. 

Briers is a member of the British Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association (SATRA). SATRA is the world’s leading research and technology centre of its kind and a leading authority on international legislation and testing.

Briers is also committed to the wider gardening industry. Matt Jackson, Sales Director serves on the council of GIMA, the trade association that promotes and protects the interests of UK and EU businesses supplying the UK garden industry.

Briers stockists

Briers products can be found at major outlets across the UK. These include Wilkinsons, B&Q, Dobbies, The Garden Centre Group, Blue Diamond and Garden and Leisure as well as independent garden centres, DIY stores and fashion retailers. Briers also supplies to major national wholesalers such as Decco.

For more information visit www.briersltd.co.uk.