The man who turned Joules into the big fashion brand it is today has been given an OBE in the Queens Jubilee Birthday Honours List.
Tom Joule started Joules in his home town of Market Harborough, south Leicestershire, in 1989 after buying 80 per cent of the family clothing firm from his father, Ian.
He sold socks, wellies and hats at agricultural fairs and equestrian shows before supplying Cotswolds and seaside shops, then designing his own range of distinctive, branded goods.
The business floated on London’s junior market in May 2016, at a time when sales and profits were growing exponentially.
Last autumn Joules moved into a new £20 million headquarters, across the road from its old Market Harborough base.
It has brought the Joules team under one roof for the first time, reflecting both Joules’ heritage and history and making the most of the site’s semi-rural setting.
Speaking at its opening last November, Mr Joule told BusinessLive that what Joules had achieved over the years and, more recently, during lockdown had been “quite amazing”.
He said: “I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder really, apart from when my children were born.
“Thinking back to Joules ’ last-but-one home, I was storing products on a farm and when I told the farmer that we needed more space he pointed to a cow shed and said “will this do?”.
“Six months later we were in, and that’s when it really got going.
“That cow shed should represent us as a brand – how different we are from everybody else.
“We were in the middle of a farm, looking over the countryside, and not many businesses can say that.
“That’s where the wholesale side of the business got going and where online got going and where we started building our shop portfolio.
“It was all about being different to the other brands and about our growing in popularity.
“When we went in there we were turning over £2 million and when we exited we were turning over £11 million.
“And what was so exciting about moving into the buildings across the road from here, was that that was where we cemented all our early ideas – and our growth never stopped.
“But because the growth didn’t stop we needed somewhere that could bring us all together.
“And this large bit of land on the edge of Market Harborough, looking out over green fields, made me feel that we could get back to really representing the brand again.”
Mr Joule was one of a handful of businesspeople from across the East Midlands who have been awarded this jubilee week for their outstanding contributions to the country.
Gemma Elizabeth Pearce, from Newark, in Nottinghamshire, has received a CBE for her work with the Coal Authority, which manages the licensing of coal mining operations in the UK as well as the effects of past coal mining.
Paul Jonathan Stein, from Ashbourne, in Derbyshire, is the chairman of the Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor Consortium. He has received a CBE for his work with the Rolls-Royce subsidiary which was established to develop affordable power plants to generate electricity using a small nuclear reactor.
It is hoped they will play a part in the UK’s drive towards green energy and move away from imported fuel.
Diane Vernon, from Barwell, Leicestershire, is founder and chief executive of EmployabilityUK. She receives a MBE for services to disadvantaged young people.
EmployabilityUK was set up to help businesses provide good quality volunteering opportunities for young people.
Jacqueline Helen Sutton, from Belper, in Derbyshire, has got a MBE for her work as chief customer officer, civil aerospace, at Rolls-Royce.
She is responsible for driving the vision and strategy behind the sales of engines and services as well as marketing and customer service delivery to airlines and aircraft manufacturers across the world.
Rolls-Royce is a big UK exporter employing around 15,000; and in turn supports thousands of UK suppliers, driven by global sales to airlines under her leadership.
She is recognised as a strategic and commercial leader in the sector. Her roles have included senior vice president at Airbus, based in Toulouse.
