All of us at Palladium would like to congratulate Growth Partner and Stubble & Co teams for a successful close. We are delighted to have advised Growth Partner on its investment in Stubble & Co, a pioneering UK lifestyle brand that designs high-quality and functional bags.
The Stubble & Co Story
The brainchild of founders Ben and Victoria Watkiss, Stubble & Co was born out of Ben’s frustration with a broken bag that he couldn’t fix while on holiday in the Philippines. Rather than dwell on the substandard nature of the broken bag, the couple spotted a golden opportunity to create their own highly functional, quality bag brand that wouldn’t leave travellers in the lurch. And just like that, Stubble & Co was born. The business has delivered consistent profitable growth with a sales CAGR of 173% over the last three years and is on track to achieve sales of £10 million in 2023.
Championing Sustainability
From the moment Stubble & Co was founded, the brand has championed sustainability. Prioritising the well-being of people and the planet, the business has embedded ethical and sustainable practices throughout the entire operational process. As part of 1% For the Planet, Stubble & Co donates 1% of annual sales to approved environmental nonprofits. Through its positive impact, Stubble & Co has also become one of only 1,500 certified UK B Corporation companies, given to businesses that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
Growth Partner Investment
Fueled by Growth Partner’s investment and bolstered by its strategic insight and expertise in scaling multi-channel consumer businesses, Stubble & Co is ready to start a new chapter of exciting growth. The investment represents a dynamic new undertaking for Growth Partner, which was formed by Richard Harpin in 2015 to support ambitious and impactful entrepreneurs and their teams. Growth Partner buys into and shares their partners’ visions, offering support and investment to help fast-growth consumer challenger brands on their growth journeys.
Palladium’s Advisory Role
Palladium used a combination of robust external data sources, analysis of internal analytics and practitioner expertise across commercial, digital and go-to-market to quantify Stubble & Co’s impressive growth in the context of its competitive environment while providing qualification, quantification and recommendation on growth opportunities.
About the investment in Stubble & Co, Alex Marsh (Partner) of Growth Partner said: “An amazing challenger brand growing very quickly - with superb products. We are excited to be working with Ben Watkiss and Victoria Watkiss and welcome them to the growing Growth Partner community. Palladium was once again able to deliver on our preference for actionable diligence which, thanks to the practitioner expertise in their team, provided value for us and the company in delivering on the growth plan.”
Global Head of Transaction Advisory, Ben Martin, said: “We were delighted to work alongside Growth Partner on another high-performing consumer brand, and pleased to be able to validate and support the opportunities highlighted in the growth plan.”
Senior Consultant and project lead, Kathryn Hircombe, said: “It’s great to have worked with Growth Partner on the diligence of Stubble & Co, an impressively fast-growing brand with a highly focused product strategy. Commercial and go-to-market analysis highlighted strong foundations for growth, and I look forward to seeing their performance evolve following investment.”
All of us at Palladium look forward to seeing Stubble & Co grow over the coming years with Growth Partner’s invaluable support.
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