Regatta Great Outdoors is a family-owned outdoor and leisure clothing company founded in the UK in 1981 with one simple mission. They wanted to produce affordable clothing not only for adventurers, but for those who wanted to open their front door and just have fun.
It’s a mission that has stood the test of time and had led the company to be one of the leading players in the outdoor clothing world. A workforce of just 12 in 1981 has now grown to over 400, with a state -of- the-art headquarters in Manchester and a warehousing operation near Liverpool. It exports its wares to more than 55 countries through a network of sales offices across Europe.
Regatta was introduced to Ireland in 2000, when Brian Fox, Ireland Country Manchester, started wholesaling Regatta products from his garage in Cork. He now operates a €10 million -a-year wholesaling business, with 18 concession stores nationwide in Shaws, Elverys and Paco, and currently five standalone stores in Limerick, Athlone, Swords and Tralee, with Tallaght being the most recent, and two new stores opening soon, including Arthur’s Quay, Limerick, in late October and McDonagh Junction, Kilkenny,in November. The Irish arm of Regatta currently employs 45 people, with an additional 30 jobs generated by store openings in Tallaght, Limerick and Kilkenny, and an additional 50 jobs planned for the coming year.
The company’s philosophy of producing affordable clothes that look equally at home on the school run or for leisure wear as they do out hillwalking held them in good stead during the difficult recessionary years, with annual sales growth of up to 20 per cent between 2009 and 2013.
The brand is very highly regarded in Ireland for its stylish yet weatherproofed looks, and is loved by ramblers, amblers, hikers and bikers, campers and gardeners, daily commuter, dog walkers and multi-tasking mums and dads, puddle-loving kids, urban roamers and outdoor adventurers.
Presenter, DJ and winner of Bear Grylls: Mission Survive,Vogue Williams, celebrated the opening of the brand new Regatta Great Outdoors store at The Square, Tallaght on Saturday October 17th.
Experience Regatta Great Outdoors for yourself, now at Unit 310, Level 3, The Square Shopping Centre, Tallaght, Dublin 24, www.regatta.com