10 March 2015
London Marathon Expo
We are excited to announce that Fervour will be showing at the London Marathon Expo, which runs from 22 to 25 April at ExCel, London. It will be our first time exhibiting and we’re really looking forward to it. Do drop by if you’re in the area, we would love to meet you and show you the Fervour range first hand. Due to a minor injury, I won’t be running the marathon this time, but I’m glad to be participating in a different way.
In other news: we have just received pre-production samples of our new vests. We are delighted with how they have turned out, and are looking forward to adding them to the range soon. With luck they will land in time for the Expo, so they will be available there as well as online.
30 October 2014
Indian Summer
We’re enjoying a beautiful Indian Summer in our part of England. It’s hard to believe autumn has begun – the sunshine has been glorious and there’s a warm gentle breeze, the leaves are starting to turn golden but the grass is still lush and verdant.
October brought the wonderful news of a ballot place for the London Marathon, my second successful attempt in the London ballot, and my seventh city marathon. The weather is perfect for the start of training for the race next April, before the cold dark months set in. Accompanied by Fervour’s lively canine running companion, Fae the Tamaskan, our first proper training run by the river was a real joy.
Both Fae and I were trying out our new kit: Fae has a smart new running harness which tethers us together to run in unison (well that’s the theory, if we can both work out who is the pace setter!) and I have been testing the new Fervour prototypes in our new stretch fabrics. More on these styles in another post!
I’m reminded of the first London Marathon I ran in 2010 with my husband, which was the initial spark that inspired the creation of Fervour. Much like marathon training, creating a new business requires time, stamina and effort. It can be a slow process at the start to be sure to get things right, but if you can dedicate the time, it is ultimately worth it.
Teresa
07 August 2014
Portugal
When Fervour was first conceived, the provenance, as well as the quality of the product was a very important aspect of the brand. Not that we wanted to create a specifically ‘eco’ or ‘ethical’ brand – we just felt that all products should be made in a socially responsible way wherever possible, and that if we were going to do this, we should do it properly.
We first looked at manufacturing as close to home as possible, but unfortunately couldn’t find exactly what we wanted here in the UK, so we cast our net further, into Europe. It did take quite a while - several years of searching - but eventually we found someone who fulfilled all of our criteria. We count ourselves very lucky to have found a fantastic manufacturer, and recently had the pleasure of visiting the factory where our products are made.
Nestled in the countryside of northern Portugal, the factory is small but technologically advanced, having all the machinery required to make a high-quality product, with every stage of production carefully considered. It is a light, airy environment, and it was great to see the team in action, expertly crafting the garments.
We were delighted to discover that the director of the factory is also an athlete, so he has an in-depth, technical and practical understanding of the product. The trip gave us an opportunity to discuss the construction of our new prototypes in great detail, as well as the best way to make improvements to our designs. It’s important to us to see first-hand where, how and by whom our products are made, and we were very impressed with what we found.
We were staying in Porto, making sure to have some time to explore and enjoy the surroundings before returning home. Beautiful architecture (including wonderful examples of Art Deco), good food, lovely people – the trip was very inspiring, both for business and leisure, and we are looking forward to returning in the near future.
22 July 2014
Tour de France
There's been so much going on recently (new products in the works, travelling, events and so on) that we're a little behind on keeping up with news! We've decided to do a brief chronological recap to get up to speed, starting with the Tour de France, which commenced a few weeks ago.
Stage Three of Le Tour took off in Cambridge, the historic university city not too far from where Fervour is based. The team was delighted to have the opportunity to witness the exceptional athleticism of the cyclists as they passed through the city streets.
The weather was glorious, highlighting the stunning architecture for which Cambridge is famous, and an enthusiastic crowd turned out to cheer on the peloton as it passed through the city before setting off for London. We had a great view on Trinity Street, and were able to capture the images below. A truly memorable day!
08 June 2014
Onwards and Upwards
Apologies for the radio silence! We have been very busy with moving things forward.
We are now looking for a few select retailers to work with, and exploring other opportunities to spread the reach of our brand.
As a small, independent brand, there are many challenges, and sometimes things take a little longer than we’d like. Please bear with us!
There are lots of products in the pipeline which will have to be released slowly - alas, we cannot produce everything we want straight away. After careful consideration, we have selected the next styles to go forward. For these, we have sourced some wonderful new fabrics with great technical features which we’re very excited about.
Looking forward to bringing you more designs, and thank you for all the support. Onwards and upwards!