For this month’s Behind the Brand interview, where we spotlight exceptional founders and brands in the Active portfolio, we spoke to Tom Kay, Founder of Finisterre. Tom told us about bringing Finisterre’s true north to life, how he thinks about the term sustainability, the importance of resilience and much more…
What inspired you to start Finisterre? What sets the business apart in the market?
Finisterre was born from my love of the sea and a deep belief that there is a better way of making products and existing as a business. Our founding commitments in 2003 were to people, product and the environment. I always believed there was room in the world for a brand like Finisterre, what it could stand for and what it could become. We try to be a platform for change, to do things differently and be better. 21 years later, that startup mentality still exists which is amazing for me as a founder.
Can you tell us about Finisterre’s North Star? How have you built the brand and community around this purpose?
Our purpose is all about inspiring a connection to the sea and using the brand to do that. We believe that people who connect to the sea can be better as individuals, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. And then when they’re back on land, they can understand the importance of the sea to the planet and will stand up for it. So, it’s all about building a brand and products around that true north.
Our customers and community live lives in and around the sea. It doesn’t mean they have to live next to the sea, many of them don’t in fact, but they have a connection to the sea, and they like to wear products that are from a brand that represents that. We bring our true north to life in whatever way we can, through our marketing, storytelling, products and our 11 stores. We have lots of events where people in our community can come together and meet like-minded folks.
You’ve been a pioneer in sustainability and were the first outdoor clothing brand in the UK to certify as B Corp. How has this commitment to sustainability informed decisions as the business has grown?
Finisterre really started because brands in our space weren’t making products relevant to the life I was leading. Bikinis and board shorts, when it’s the middle of February in the UK, are not very useful. So, the need for exceptional products has always been there and we’ve always believed in a better way of making them, whether that’s innovation in the fabrics, supply chain manufacturing techniques, or new materials. We build products that are fit for purpose and built to last. For me the best products are the ones you have the longest, they are the ones you most connect to.
What’s amazing is to see how the team now takes this founding spirit and brings it to life in many areas of the business, both in the UK and overseas and across new products as well. It’s always there.
It’s interesting the word sustainability. I think it has become somewhat overused now and probably lost a bit of its meaning. If you look at it in its purest form it’s sustaining the status quo, which is not actually good enough. It should be about improving the status quo. At Finisterre, we aim to be a responsible business and a positive impact business wherever we can be, centred on driving progress. If you’re sustaining, you just keep it as it is, and I think most people would admit that’s not good enough.
Can you share a few of the highlights you’re most proud of?
Each stage of the business has had little highlights and I’m always encouraging the team to celebrate the milestones when they happen. When we won those early awards as a team of five people, getting recognition from The Observer for an ethical business award, was a big thing for us. Then when we started making new products and getting great reviews, opening our first store.
Crowd raises have been big moments for us too because they bring excellent validation from our community that they believe in what we’re doing, in such big numbers. B Corp certification was a highlight and more recently some of the successes we’ve had in the US. In their moment, each highlight is big, but then the next stage of the business comes along and with it a new milestone.
On the flip side, building a business involves facing lots of challenges too. What is one of the biggest challenges you’ve faced while scaling and how did you overcome it?
Trying to do things differently, like working with new fabrics, and making it work economically at the start was a real challenge. It was hard to do because, going back ten years, recycled fabrics were very hard to come by. Not only were we starting a brand from scratch, but we wanted to be different and instil real change in the industry. We helped to overcome this by bringing in investors who understood the brand and were aligned with what we were trying to do.
Tell us a bit about fundraising, how did you decide when and which investors to bring on board?
We have a great relationship with Active as our long-term funding partner. We’ve always worked hard to make sure that it’s a good relationship and I’m proud of that. Having a funding partner who understands the brand journey, and how it differs from a more conventional business journey and is aligned with the direction of travel is critical.
We are also very fortunate to have a community of loyal followers who wanted to get behind us through our two crowd raises. Many of our customers have invested in us, demonstrating their belief in what we’re doing, and wanting to help us on the journey, which has been a personal validation for me and my life’s work. Now almost 20% of the business is owned by our crowd community.
Making the right hires and building a strong team are key to success. How big is your team now and what qualities do you look for in people who come to work at Finisterre?
There are 75 people at our Wheal Kitty workshops in St Agnes in North Cornwall and about 75 across our 11 stores around the country. Attracting and retaining talent is super important, especially when there is a galvanizing and authentic purpose for why we exist and why we started. We’re always looking for people who are on board with that core purpose and the fact we’re a B Corp business too.
2024 has already been a very exciting year with your bigger store in Covent Garden and opening in Maine in the US. Can you give us a sneak peek at what’s coming up in the second half of 2024 and beyond?
It’s early days in the US but the initial six-month run has gone down really well, and people have been really excited we’re now available there. From the product point of view, collaborations are always exciting, and we’ve got some good collaborations coming, one with a great bag manufacturer and more collaborations between now and Christmas. Because of the brand authenticity, we have permission to go into collaborations and make never-before-seen products, bringing together the best of both brands in products you can only get in that form, allowing us to access new markets and customers.
Finally, what’s your one piece of advice for a founder in the early stages of building their business?
Firstly, don’t wait for everything to be lined up to start a business, just go for it and work it out as you go along. If you wait for everything to be a ten out of ten before you make the decision, you’ll never get off the start line. A seven out of ten is good enough to get off the blocks.
My other piece of advice is about building resilience. This is the trait I’ve leant on most as a founder and the mindset you need. You will have highs and lows at every stage of the journey, and you’ve got to have resilience and the belief in what you’re doing and building and what the brand could become.
