#We are fire llyod banks full#

The best part of the journey for me is seeing our watches on the wrists of people who appreciate our story, history and values. ItвЂ™s something I could never do in the corporate world. The autonomy that you have is unbelievable вЂ“ to be able to control your own diary to be able to put into your diary the meetings that you want to have to do what you want to do and enjoy it. JonnyвЂ™s enthusiasm for running his own company comes through loud and clear. Next year, we are going to convert a vintage fire engine into our moving store so we can go around the UK and Europe promoting our watches and the fire service.вЂќ вЂњIn five yearsвЂ™ time, I want to have our head office in a converted old fire station on a high street where customers can come in and see watch makers in action and see our upcycling first hand. вЂњI have a sort of 25-year vision because I donвЂ™t plan to sell the company as I love it so dearly,вЂќ he says. From the outset, Jonny has wanted to grow the business without any investors, without any debt, so he has reinvested profits and is looking for slow and sustainable growth.

ThatвЂ™s why we say every one of our watches has real fire-fighting history beating through every component.вЂќДЄt the moment, the company is turning over around ВЈ1m a year. The helmets were melted down in London and we pour it into a mould which is then put into the crown of every single watch case. Every one of our watches has over 100 years of real British fire-fighting history inside because the watch case has an original 1920s British brass fire-fighting helmet. Our most recent upcycled strap is made from fire-fighting uniform. вЂњYouвЂ™ve got yellow which is from the West Midlands Fire and Rescue service, youвЂ™ve got blue which is the one nearest to my heart because thatвЂ™s from Tyne and Wear which is where my grandfather was a fire fighter, and then thereвЂ™s green which is used by the British Armed Forces Fire and Defence Unit. That was donated to us by the London Fire Brigade and that is seen as our flagship strap.

90 per cent of all fire services in the UK use red. There are different fire hose colours that we have and different materials we will use. We then clean them, repurpose them and put them inside our watch straps. Jonny explains: вЂњWhen fire hose comes to the end of its life, it normally gets thrown into landfill so, instead of that happening, fire teams around the country reach out to us. The watch straps themselves are made from genuine fire hose which has been used for at least ten years by different fire services across the UK. Sustainability and upcycling are key elements of the brand. We chose a place near St PaulвЂ™s in London, and that was worth ВЈ22,000 to us.вЂќ

We won a lease for 12 months for four people from the office space company WeWork. вЂњThere were 60 different start-up companies which all presented their small businesses to a panel of judges and we ended up winning the whole thing which was superb. вЂњ2017 was all about building the first collection and then, in 2018, we realised that weвЂ™d actually have to sell these watches so we entered the Esquire Magazine Self Made competition,вЂќ recalls Jonny.

вЂњAnd it all started over a beer with a friend in Weatherspoons in Hexham.вЂќДЄ real turning point for the company came in 2018 when Jonny decided to enter a DragonsвЂ™ Den-like competition being run by Esquire Magazine. вЂњWhatвЂ™s been beautiful about how the brand has evolved is that every single one of our collections is made from genuine upcycled fire-fighting materials and we donate a percentage of our sales back to fire-fighting charities around the world,вЂќ says Jonny. He knew he wanted to dedicate the business to his grandfather вЂ“ William Wood, a fire fighter for 25 years in Newcastle, left, вЂ“ who was a huge role model in his life. I thought I would need a lot of capital to set up a luxury brand but when I heard about Kickstarter and the fact you do not need to give any equity away in the business вЂ¦ well, that was the start of William Wood Watches.вЂќДЇrom December 2016 to the following August, Jonny began to build the brand from scratch. I was back home in the north-east on Boxing Day talking to a friend in a pub and he told me about Kickstarter.

#We are fire llyod banks full#

вЂњIt was just over five years ago, and I was working full time for LloydвЂ™s Bank in London. The 30-year-old always knew he wanted, at some stage, to run his own business, preferably in the luxury sector, but didnвЂ™t know quite how it was going to work. ItвЂ™s not often you head to the pub for a Christmas beer with a mate and end up creating a company with a ВЈ1m turnover but thatвЂ™s exactly what happened to Jonny Garrett, founder and CEO of William Wood Watches. Jonny Garrett tells Daniel Evans the story behind William Wood Watches