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Two Nottingham students have combined a love of sport and a head for business to create a fast-growing clothing company.
With the help of Nottingham’s state-of-the-art Enterpriselab, Management Studies students Brad Legrand and Chris Davies are taking what they learn in lectures into the real world.
Together, they have set up StashMonkey – a university sportswear company that specialises in providing made-to-order kit for student clubs and societies.
They believe they’ve found a gap in the market – between cheap, low quality sportswear that only lasts for a short time and expensive gear that is out of the average student’s budget. Brad and Chris say they thrive on the challenge of providing whatever kit students ask for:
Bright pink with green writing and yellow polka dots - we want to be able to give that to people, if that's what they want.
Their orders to date have included shirts for hockey and football clubs, and kit for a group of students preparing to climb Mount Everest. The company can also supply cricket, netball, lacrosse, weightlifting, cycling and rowing gear, as well as tuxedo-style rugby shirts!
Chris and Brad believe their key to success comes from their commitment to five firm principles: doing away with the ‘one size fits all’ approach; making every design unique; giving a quote without hidden extras; implementing as low a minimum order as possible; and producing clothes that students will want to wear to lectures as well as on the field.
We’ve found that some companies’ quotes don’t include delivery or VAT. When we give a price, it includes everything. We also have a minimum order that can go as low as six, which is great for intramural teams, who might only have a small number of players. Above all, we want to supply quality clothes which are designed to fit the wearer.
StashMonkey was set up with help from The University of Nottingham’s Enterpriselab. Based in the Sir Colin Campbell Building on the Jubilee Campus, Enterpriselab offers business advice and support to enterprising students and graduates. Here’s how Brad and Chris got started:
We had a meeting with Dan Edge, the Enterpriselab coordinator, who liked our ideas and agreed to let us use the facilities. Now, we’ve got access to lots of things we wouldn’t have otherwise, like shared office space, advice from experts on law, accounting and other subjects and the use of a business address. We’re able to invite people to our office for meetings, use the services of a receptionist and put a proper address on our business cards. ‘Nottingham Innovation Park’ sounds so much more professional than a home address. There are computers with internet access and all the software, which costs thousands of pounds to buy. It’s not something most students can afford. You get to know people in the office too, and you can help each other out. In our opinion, it’s one of the best things about the University.
We had a meeting with Dan Edge, the Enterpriselab coordinator, who liked our ideas and agreed to let us use the facilities. Now, we’ve got access to lots of things we wouldn’t have otherwise, like shared office space, advice from experts on law, accounting and other subjects and the use of a business address.
We’re able to invite people to our office for meetings, use the services of a receptionist and put a proper address on our business cards. ‘Nottingham Innovation Park’ sounds so much more professional than a home address. There are computers with internet access and all the software, which costs thousands of pounds to buy.
It’s not something most students can afford. You get to know people in the office too, and you can help each other out. In our opinion, it’s one of the best things about the University.
University Park Nottingham, NG7 2RD
telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 5151 fax: +44 (0) 115 951 3666 email: enquiries@nottingham.ac.uk