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Robyn and Stephen discuss a streetwear brand worn by Lewis Hamilton and Hailey Bieber, the acquisition of a food manufacturer and a deal for a personal care brand.

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00:00A streetwear brand worn by Lewis Hamilton and Hayley Bieber, the acquisition of a food

00:04manufacturer and a deal for a personal care brand featuring today's business briefing.

00:08Good morning, Robin.

00:10Good morning, Stephen.

00:12We've just got some great stories this morning, what's caught your eye?

00:18Yeah, so the first one is about refillable personal care brand Wild.

00:21So I don't know if you've come across them, I think they're kind of stocked in a lot of

00:24supermarkets and sort of boots, things like that.

00:27It's like a natural deodorant brand, but they also make kind of lip balms, body washers,

00:31things like that.

00:32So the big news is that they've been acquired by Unilever, which obviously has a lot of

00:36really well-known brands in its arsenal.

00:39So the group is thought to have raised about 10 million from external investors, including

00:44Jam Jar Ventures, which is the investment vehicle of Innocent Drinks founders.

00:49And Unilever has now acquired Wild for an undisclosed sum, but reports have said that

00:53the deal could be worth up to 230 million.

00:56So yeah, really, really big deal there.

00:58So Wild was launched back in 2020 and they've had kind of this mission to stop plastic filling

01:04up bathrooms.

01:06So yeah, taking away kind of plastic packaging and things like that and the natural products.

01:11So obviously it's really appealed to Unilever.

01:13Great stuff.

01:14Yeah.

01:15Well, sticking with deals news, we've got the news this morning that Whitworth's Food

01:18Group has announced acquisition or the proposed acquisitions are of KTC Edibles Group from

01:22private equity firm Endless.

01:24So KTC supplies more than 370,000 tons of fats and oils and employs 450 people across

01:31five sites in the UK and Ireland.

01:34Endless acquired the business in May 2022 and has invested in the business over the

01:38last three years.

01:39So that's included supporting two acquisitions made during that period.

01:45It was included Carderwan, a Scottish business and Irish business Trilby.

01:50The new owner, Whitworth's Group, was founded in 1886 and it's a flour milling business

01:55with 10 sites in the UK.

01:56It's been owned by the George family since the 1930s.

02:00They've grown it to more than 900 million in revenue.

02:03The new owners said they plan to work with the existing management team at KTC to grow

02:06the business.

02:07So really exciting developments there.

02:09Yeah, sounds like a great story.

02:11So another one from me is about streetwear brand worn by the likes of Lewis Hamilton

02:15and Hayley Bieber.

02:16So Stephen, have you come across hero clothing?

02:19I can't say I have.

02:21So apparently they became famous for doing men's clothing originally, but also obviously

02:25do women's as well.

02:27I don't think I've come across them, but obviously they are well known by a lot of celebrities.

02:31Yeah, possibly not the right audience for us.

02:33Yeah.

02:34But yeah, so Hero Clothing directors Holly Beadle and Georgia Streeton have become majority

02:39shareholders in the British fashion brand.

02:42So the move comes as part of a strategic restructure led by owner Paul Richardson.

02:47So he was formerly at Gymshark, the chairman there, and he acquired the business back in

02:51October 2021.

02:52But since then, the growth has really been led by Holly and Georgia.

02:58So they are his daughters as well.

02:59So nice family business there.

03:01And they're now successfully driving the rebranding and relaunch as co-owners.

03:05Well, the last thing from us today, our new Scottish newsletter has the story of a crisp

03:11manufacturer which is scaling up his operations after securing a deal to supply 900 Marks

03:16and Spencer stores.

03:17Perthshire-based Taylor Snacks will supply its new Extreme Ridge Crisp to the M&S stores.

03:24So that is to tell you the extreme.

03:27I was going to say, what makes it an extreme ridge?

03:29Well, it's a thinner cut and a tighter ridge, apparently, compared to standard crisps.

03:34And it will come in flavours including four cheese and onion, sizzling steak and chicken

03:38curry.

03:40The company has created 30 jobs as a result of the partnership, so really great growth

03:44there.

03:45And its managing director, James Taylor, said the partnership was an exciting milestone

03:48for the business and highlighted the really positive impact it had on its facility in

03:52Evel.

03:53Oh, great.

03:54Well, that's all from us today.

03:56If you want to read more about any of those stories, visit insidermedia.com.

03:58You can also sign up to our newsletters and find out about upcoming events.

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 2nd April 2025

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