Belstaff puts IPO plans on backburner following Brexit vote
Belstaff has put plans to float on the backburner following the shock Brexit vote, the boss of the luxury fashion brand has revealed.
Chief executive Gavin Haig said he had “deprioritised” the potential move just seven months after moving the trademark and the finance operations of the brand — sported by actors including Steve McQueen and Sarah Jessica Parker — back to London.
Instead, Haig said he will now concentrate on growing the business in the UK with existing capital from parent JAB, the holding company of billionaire German industrialists, the Reimann family.
He told the Standard: “Post Brexit, we see the luxury and overall market volatility as an opportunity for challenger brands to cut through.”
A new collaboration between Belstaff and actress Liv Tyler will be in shops before the end of July with an advertising campaign launching in September.
It is also planning five new stores in Japan.
The privately-owned firm does not disclose UK results, but said sales rose 20% in the year to January 31.
It has 13 shops, of which five are in Britain, selling items including a £1,250 ‘Outlaw’ jacket and £750 weekend holdall bags.
