Julian Dunkerton is striding around Superdry’s barn-like showroom, yanking garments off rails, stroking fabrics and talking up the brand he believes he can bring back from the brink. Aged 59, Dunkerton could be forgiven for retreating to focus on the rest of his empire, which extends from the family cider business to property and hospitality assets including the No 131 boutique hotel and bar in Cheltenham. Instead, he sees at least another decade ahead at the brand he founded in the 1980s, having ploughed £10m of his own money into taking it off the stock market in July.
While he was comfortably able to fund the deal without wiping out cash reserves or remortgaging the Cotswold mansion he shares with fashion designer wife Jade Holland Cooper (thanks to their £100m-plus fortune), he faces a high-stakes journey to revive Superdry, which has been dismissed by many as an uncool “dad’ brand . Dunkerton admits Superdry, which was born out of his first business selling T-shirts from his car and a market stall called Cult Clothing in Cheltenham, is his passion. He now owns 75% of its equity, with former stock market investors controlling the rest, and specialist lenders Hilco and Bantry Bay looming in the background with large (and expensive) loans helping to fund a three-year revival plan.
The challenge of turning around the business, which employs 3,000 staff globally, is immense. At the height of its powers, in early 2018, the company was worth £1.7bn, but after years of .