Mulberry

Accessories brand founded in 1971 by Roger Saul. The optimism of his 21 years, some help from his mother, and a small saving of five hundred pounds was enough to get him started. Under the symbol of the shady foliage of the Mulberry tree, Mulberry was among the first companies to establish an authentic British outdoor style. The happy combination of both high-quality and high-resistance fabrics helped to establish the brand world-wide. Having started with a range of belts, and especially bags, aimed at lovers of the outdoors, from 1975 the range of products was extended to clothing and household furnishings.
&Quad;2000. The investment company Singapore Challice Ltd (Ong Beng Seng and his wife Christina Ong), which also owns Singapore’s Club 21, and the franchises for Armani in England and Armani Exchange in the United States, bought 41.5% of Mulberry.
&Quad;2001. Pre-tax losses of 1.7 million pounds (2.7 million euros). Challice invested 7.6 million pounds to re-launch the brand, including the reopening of the Bond Street store in London.
&Quad;2002, December. In the first half of 2002 the gross loss was 1.05 million pounds, despite an increase in sales to 13.3 millions, a 10% increase on 2001.