Dare2be, the winter sports brand belonging to Regatta, is shifting its European head office from Manchester to Annecy in France. The office will be headed by Gérard Barin, who joined Regatta in June in the new position of brand manager for Dare2be after several decades in French sports retailing and at Salomon. Launched in Britain 7 years ago, this secondary brand of Regatta was previously handled by Graham Rickard, the company’s head of international sales.
The move should be completed before the end of the year, and it should help Dare2be to draw more inspiration from the alpine environment. The Annecy office will probably consist of about five people, concentrating on design and marketing, while Dare2be’s sourcing and warehousing functions will remain at the Regatta group’s office in Manchester. For the time being the two brands will continue to be sold by the same sales force.
The Dare2be brand is contributing strongly to the growth of the Regatta group, which reported sales of about £60 million (€89.0m-$113.0m) for last year – combining Regatta with its two other brands, Dare2be and Craghoppers. Dare2be’s winter products are thought to generate sales of roughly €10 million and the brand has just introduced its first summer range, to be marketed from next year as a youthful and leisure-oriented label.
Given the tough market conditions in the UK, most of Regatta’s expansion is taking place in continental Europe. Roughly 75 percent of the Regatta brand’s sales still stem from the British market, where the company estimates its share at 14 percent. However, UK sales are expected to remain stable this year, and Regatta is faring much better in its key European markets.
While Dare2be is expanding quickly in Germany and Austria, Regatta itself has enjoyed double-digit expansion in France and the Benelux, where it just hired a fresh country manager. Ton Nieuwenhuijs, a former football player who headed up the subsidiary, retired to make way for Eric Kraij, previously at Cakewalk and Freetex. The company’s latest strategic market is Spain, where Regatta set up a subsidiary three years ago.
