CWB’s Laura Turner speaks to Nicola Perring, founder of The Nest, a new specialist distribution platform that markets and sells British brands directly to retail buyers across the globe.
Laura Turner: In a nutshell, what is The Nest?
Nicola Perring: The Nest is a distribution platform with the primary focus of connecting British brands across maternity, newborn and nursery with buyers and retailers across the world. Membership includes access to a support network, which comprises industry expert consultants and downloadable documents and tools. As the name suggests, The Nest is somewhere safe and comfortable for British brands to grow.
LT: What inspired you to launch the business?
NP: I’d been working in retail for over 30 years and my last position was with a specialist retailer in the baby sector. When I left that role, I decided I wanted to start my own business focusing on the things I love – baby and maternity and helping small British brands get into mainstream retail. I’d seen the challenges small brands face; payment terms, getting space in-store, even getting hold of the buyers can be very difficult. Equally, I knew there was a big market for British products internationally, but you need an understanding of those markets, both culturally and historically, to know what will work. You also need to consider the opportunities for products across different markets. For instance, a red party dress in the UK is perfect for Christmas. However, red is a lucky colour in China, so it would also be ideal for Chinese New Year. It would be well received for Ramadan too.
“Another big inspiration for my business was the potential it could have in increasing awareness around sustainability and ethical sourcing.”
There are so many amazing new fabrics being developed overseas and my aim is to make them accessible to small British brands. Innovative fabrics made from aloe fibre, corn starch and hemp could be a great alternative to organic cotton. Babies have such delicate skin – it is 30% thinner than an adult’s skin – so using these new natural fabrics for baby clothing and bedding is a perfect match. Many of the brands we work with aim to be sustainable and we can support them with our knowledge and connections to fabrics sources and manufacturers. As our business is committed to protecting the environment, we offset our carbon footprint by supporting tree planting projects through Ecologi and The Soil Association. We have even developed our own trademark SEFAR (sustainable, ethical, forward-thinking, affordable and recyclable) to help us highlight our commitment to championing sustainable products.
LT: What’s the process for a brand joining The Nest?
NP: We like to take a personal approach and create collaborative relationships with brands. After years of working in large-scale retail – which can be very remote and one-way – it’s extremely important to me to have good working relationships.
If a brand wants to join our network, they can sign-up via our website or give us a call. The first step then is a one-to-one meeting. This initial ‘discovery meeting’ ensures we fully understand the business; how the brand works and what they want to do. This is such an important part of the process – we need to be able to provide a brand’s story to retailers so that they can pass it onto the customers.
The next stage sees us cover how we operate, and which markets we think would be suitable. If the brand is happy with the proposal, we agree on product and territories and start approaching the buyers.
LT: Is The Nest suitable for both start-ups and established brands?
NP: We deal with a variety of SMEs. We do work with a lot of new brands, but also with established ones too. Some may already trade overseas but want to target a certain territory for instance.
International markets can be very tricky for any business without the right contacts. There are a lot of complexities involved, which often put brands off. Because we understand these complexities, and deal with everything from order management to delivery, selling through us is just as easy for the brand as selling in the UK.
LT: Besides yourself, who else makes up The Nest team?
NP: I started planning and building The Nest in 2018 with two friends, Louise and Emma. Louise previously owned three independent boutiques, so we make sure we take into consideration her experiences as a retailer. Emma is from a similar background to mine and has worked for retailers such as Debenhams and F+F. She also has specialist knowledge of the lingerie sector, which is very useful as we cover maternity lingerie.
More recently Sharon Beardsworth, one of our consultants, has been working very closely with me on developing our business model. Sharon has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the baby and kids’ clothing sector and has been a driving force when it comes to finding new routes to market.
Our broader team includes several other consultants who can provide brands with the industry tools they need. They all specialise in different fields including sales, marketing, photography, social media, concessions and technical experts.
LT: You’re launching membership in two phases, what do they entail?
NP: The first phase sees the launch of the distribution platform with the added bonus of our downloadables, such as planning tools and design specs, as part of the subscription. It also allows access to our support network of consultants and the factories and suppliers we work with.
The second phase is our online training. Our consultants will deliver the modules across nine categories providing everything a start-up needs to know. For instance, one area we are covering is costing; how to create wholesale pricing and margins to ensure a business can successfully scale into wholesale. Brands can also book one-to-one time with consultants if they need extra support in a specific area. To help with cash flow, this can be arranged on an hourly, daily, weekly, or project basis.
LT: What are your plans for The Nest?
NP: The short-term plan is to establish the distribution platform and support functions, we’ll then move onto phase two and launch our online training. We want to focus on securing the markets we know have an appetite for British brands. The Middle East, which is extremely family-centric, has the potential to be a very big and important market for us. Families in the Middle East have four to five children on average and love shopping and spending on their kids. China also has a child-centric culture, with both parents and grandparents spending a lot on children. Other markets with similar alignments are Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
LT: How can brands get more information on The Nest?
NP: They can visit our website and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. They can also subscribe to our newsletters.
