Cambridge Satchel Company is to open a new London flagship store and expand its online presence in China as the brand celebrates its 10th birthday.
Founder Julie Deane said the business was entering a second decade with “clear direction, new collections, trade partners and store openings” to mark 10 years since she started the business with just £600.
The British company has secured a new site on Neal Street in London’s Seven Dials, which will also serve as its head office.
Staff working at its previous London store in Covent Garden, which closed its doors last month, will be transferred to the new outlet.
Cambridge Satchel Company’s first ever shop opened on nearby Shorts Gardens in 2013, but the business quickly outgrew the premises and moved to James Street in Covent Garden.
Julie Deane receives her OBE
Deane said: “We have chosen Seven Dials as the location for our new flagship shop as we believe this is where we feel most at home.
“Our new Neal Street flagship shop is midway between our first home and our previous James Street location, and we believe this is exactly where we should be. The streets are lined with eclectic independent brands that brim with creative atmosphere.”
The brand has four other shops in Cambridge, Edinburgh, Brighton and Oxford.
The new store will also be the launch location for a new premium range of leather handbags, dubbed “Cambridge”, featuring designs which have been in the works for six years.
The brand also plans to ramp up its international exports with a focus on Asia.
Following the launch last year of a dedicated Chinese website last year, Cambridge Satchel Company has signed a trade partnership with digital commerce agency Web2Asia which will expand its online footprint in China.
“We view this partnership as a positive step in helping our brand strengthen and consolidate how we trade in Asia particularly China, regardless of the Brexit outcome export is vitally important to us as British manufacturers,” Deane said.
