Major UK retailer Tesco to introduce two fashion brands owned by Hela across its stores
Daily FT: The brand licensing division of Hela Apparel Holdings PLC, Focus Brands, has announced a strategic partnership with Tesco to introduce its Peter Werth and Fenchurch fashion brands to the retailer’s stores across the UK.
The collaboration further enhances the Hela Group’s long-standing relationship with one of the UK’s largest retailers and will provide consumers with the opportunity to purchase two of its owned fashion brands in Tesco for the first time, with an initial rollout across 100 UK stores later this year.
Hela’s manufacturing division has been a strategic supplier to Tesco for over a decade and received the supermarket’s Empowerment Award in 2023 for its innovative supply chain solutions. The introduction of Peter Werth and Fenchurch to Tesco marks a significant evolution in this established relationship by placing two brands owned by Hela’s licensing division among the carefully curated third-party clothing labels available in Tesco’s network of stores – a landmark first for a Sri Lankan apparel company.
Peter Werth is a renowned British menswear brand established in 1975 that is synonymous with great design and takes inspiration from the sharp, formal style tribes of the 1970s to produce contemporary clothing, footwear, and accessories. Fenchurch, which has its roots in British skate culture, offers accessible contemporary garments that maintain an urban edge. Both brands are among the fashion labels whose intellectual property was acquired as part of Hela’s purchase of Focus Brands in January 2024 and complement its portfolio of licenced brands, which includes Ellesse and Nautica.
Through the partnership with Tesco, the Hela Group will design, source, manufacture and distribute Peter Werth and Fenchurch products to a selected number of Tesco’s larger retail stores across the UK, enhancing brand visibility and availability while also offering a unique solution to build additional customer engagement for Tesco. UK consumers can now look forward to discovering a new array of products under these brands that seamlessly blend modern-day fashion with comfort and durability.
Speaking about the collaboration, Hela’s Brand Licensing Division, Focus Brands CEO Ray Evans said: “We are delighted to join forces with Tesco to bring the iconic styles of Peter Werth and Fenchurch to a wider audience. This collaboration underscores the Hela Group’s long-standing strategic relationship with Tesco and is a major step forward since the inception of the brand licensing division.”
“Our strategy is focused on providing comprehensive solutions to the brands and retailers that we work with by leveraging the synergies between Hela’s licensing and manufacturing divisions, and this is the first example of many such collaborations being explored. We look forward to providing Tesco’s consumers with unparalleled fashion choices and continuing to build on our strong portfolio of owned and licensed fashion brands,” Evans added.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s apparel industry is on a steady growth path in-line with the overall growth in the country’s manufacturing and export sectors. The growth in the apparel industry is evident with the announcement of two fashion brands manufactured by Sri Lanka’s Hela through UK’s Tesco. The many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed by Sri Lanka with other countries have helped boost the country’s manufacturing and export sectors, especially apparel exports. There has been an increase in the business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s apparel industry despite the challenging economic conditions faced by the sector. Realizing the growth potential in the industry, the Sri Lankan government has also formulated various incentive schemes, to attract foreign businesses/investors to explore the expanding opportunities in the apparel industry. Foreign businesses/investors could therefore confidently explore the growing business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s apparel industry. Foreign businesses could also look at forming collaborations with local businesses engaged in the apparel industry with the aim of further expansion internationally using the trade benefits enjoyed by Sri Lanka.