Weird Fish

The active lifestyle brand that tapped into a still fashion conscious older generation and became one of the UK’s fastest-growing multi-channel lifestyle brands.

Piper backed MBO in 2010 and exited in 2017.

Famous for its distinctive fit and fabrics, Weird Fish was founded in 1993. The business provides clothing for the lucrative and growing market of older men and women who want branded and more individual products.

Having joined Weird Fish in 2006, John Stockton (who had been the driving force behind the growth of the Animal brand) recognised an opportunity to grow and develop Weird Fish from a niche to a mainstream leisure clothing brand. In 2010, we provided £8m of funding to support the MBO by John Stockon, giving us a majority stake.

Piper’s investment and partnership enabled Weird Fish to develop and grow the brand, specifically focusing on codifying the brand positioning, developing a credible womenswear offer alongside the menswear range, and growing a significant online offer to complement the wholesale business.

During our investment, Weird Fish grew to become one of the UK’s leading wholesale brands in the active lifestyle clothing market, with 11 standalone retail stores and 450 wholesale accounts in the UK and Holland, and growth in ecommerce sales by 60%.

We exited to Weird Fish to Total Capital in 2017.