When Michelle L'Huillier moved to Sydney in 1999 she was struck by the lack of quick drying, affordable swim shorts in a city surrounded by beaches.
She later moved to Singapore with her husband Jelle and found a similar problem when trying to buy shorts for her children Tom and Alexander.
So in 2012, while working in marketing for an investment company, she decided to do something about it.
Michelle launched swim short range Tom and Teddy - named after her eldest son and grandfather - and by 2013 was running the business full time.
Fast-forward to 2019 and Michelle and her family are now living in Bristol - and the business is booming.
In the last financial year Tom and Teddy’s online business has grown 80 per cent and the global revenue for the company is now £1.6million.
Michelle has also recruited a full-time digital strategist into the business, who is based in Bristol, and secured funding to the tune of £40,000 to support the company’s European growth.
Tom and Teddy products, which now include rash tops, t-shirts and polo shirts, are stocked globally, including in Australia, where online growth has increased 174 per cent year-on-year, while the business has seen 78 per cent growth in the UK and 48 per cent in the US.
'You need a bit of luck in the beginning'
Tom and Teddy is already stocked in US department stores Bloomingdales, Saks and Nordstrom, and this month launched online in US luxury department store Neiman Marcus.
“You need a bit of luck in the beginning and we had that,” recalls Michelle. “It was amazing how many people wanted to help.
“We learned along the way. We got very good feedback from people at the trade fairs and the people who bought them - but it wasn’t very many of them.”
Michelle says her first breakthrough moment, when she knew it would really work, was when Australian department store David Jones decided to stock her products.
“I had tears in my eyes. It took 12 months to get the first collection out. I’m not artistic in any way but I come up with the concept and the colours. Then get a designer to create it.”
Last year Tom and Teddy sold 55,000 shorts globally, ($1.8million dollars in sales) and made its made first profit of £50,000. This year the company is on track to sell 65,000 products (mainly swim shorts).
Michelle and her family moved to Bristol in 2016 after deciding London property was too extortionate.
“When we landed I found it hard as I didn’t have a network here at all. I joined a networking group called We Mean Biz and I met loads of people through that.
“The first year was really tough and then we started to recruit. We now have three in the Bristol office, a copywriter in Leeds, and a digital strategist. We are finding it easier we understand the dynamics a bit more.”
Michelle’s husband Jelle also helps in the business one day a week, on the finance side, and she says his skills “support her own”.
“I think it’s very important to have a business partner who has skills that support your own.
“We do have clashes but he is Dutch and they are very open; he says to me is what he thinks with no real agenda. Because it is open and honest, we get there.
'There is always a mountain to climb'
“We don’t always agree and we are quite contrary but it’s good to feel tested and making the right decision.”
The biggest challenge of running Tom and Teddy, says Michell, has been finding the right staff and keeping them excited.
“There is always a mountain to climb," says Michelle. “We never take a day off really. We talk about it more than we realise.
“I am constantly thinking about it - and keeping that momentum is really important. You have to be bold and try things.”
Michelle’s vision is to expand in Bristol and grow sales to 8-to-10 million in the next five years internationally.
“Part of our strategy is to extend our products," she adds. "It has been so intense to get this right and the advice has been not to take your eye off.
“It really helps to believe in the product. I have to love it as it is so much part of our lives. I don’t think I could be married to this business for the last eight years and not believe in the project as much as I do.”
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