FatFace is a British lifestyle brand, based in Hampshire, which creates product ranges across women's, men's, kids, footwear and accessories. FatFace is a multichannel retailer, with an international digital business as well as over 180 stores in the UK, 20 stores in the US and an engaged social community.

History

The business was founded in 1988 in French ski resort Méribel by Tim Slade, a former policeman, and business graduate Jules Leaver. The pair bought T-shirts wholesale, had them printed with designs specific to the resort, and sold them to other skiers on the slopes - at first using the proceeds only to fund their own skiing. They spent the following years travelling to different ski resorts, where they continued to produce and sell ski and outdoor-related clothing. In 1993 they opened their first shop, on London's Fulham Road; they named it "FatFace" after the Face de Bellevarde slope in Val-d'Isère. In 2000, they sold 40% of the company to

Livingbridge Livingbridge is a mid-market private equity firm launched in 1995. Headquartered in London, the firm also has offices in, Melbourne, Australia and Boston, US. Livingbridge was known until November 2014 as Isis Equity Partners, but rebranded as ...

for £5 million. In 2005 Advent International, a private equity company, bought

's interest in FatFace. In 2007 FatFace was acquired, for £360 million, by private equity group

Bridgepoint Capital Bridgepoint Group plc is a British private investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Bridgepoint was founded as NatWest Equity Partners, a private equity firm part of NatWest. ...

; the sale netted Slade and Leaver £90 million. The company's sales were badly hit by the Great Recession, forcing Bridgepoint to write off half the company's value, but improved in 2010 and again in 2011, and FatFace returned to a small profit in 2012. Bridgepoint planned to float a quarter of the company on the London stock exchange in 2014, hoping to raise £110 million, but later cancelled the flotation due to lack of confidence by prospective stockholders. In September 2020, FatFace announced the completion of a lender led debt and capital restructuring of Fat Face Group Borrowings Limited (the "Fat Face Group"). Following the restructuring there was a change of control of the parent company of the FatFace Group ("FatFace" or "Company"), to Fulham Parent Limited. As a result of the restructuring, FatFace's ownership has changed hands from its majority shareholder, Bridgepoint, to the group's lenders through its newly formed parent company. As part of the restructure the debt profile of the Group significantly reduced, from loans and borrowings (excluding lease liabilities) with a face value of £172.4m at the completion date, to £25.6m at the period end with expiry dates between September 2023 and May 2024. In March 2021 FatFace revealed to customers and staff that they had been subject to a

ransomware Ransomware is a type of malware from cryptovirology that threatens to publish the victim's personal data or permanently block access to it unless a ransom is paid off. While some simple ransomware may lock the system without damaging any files, ...

attack in January 2021 and paid $2 million ransom to

Conti Conti is an Italian surname. Geographical distribution As of 2014, 63.5% of all known bearers of the surname ''Conti'' were residents of Italy (frequency 1:756), 11.8% of the United States (1:24,071), 9.2% of Brazil (1:17,439), 6.3% of Argentina ...

cyber criminals to unlock encrypted data. In September 2021, Liz Evans stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Will Crumbie. At that point, Crumbie had been with the business for eight years as CFO. Before FatFace he held senior financial and executive positions within the Walgreen Boots Alliance Group and P&O. Colin Porter is the Chairman.

References

{{reflist , refs= {{cite news , title=FatFace profits rise despite flotation u-turn , url=http://www.scotsman.com/business/retail/fat-face-profits-rise-despite-flotation-u-turn-1-3471936 , author=Gareth Mackie , date=10 July 2014 , accessdate=14 July 2014 , newspaper= The Scotsman {{cite news , title=FatFace reports sales rise after abandoned IPO plans , url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/10957475/Fat-Face-reports-sales-rise-after-abandoned-IPO-plans.html , newspaper= The Daily Telegraph , author= Scott Campbell , date=9 Jul 2014 , accessdate=14 July 2014 {{cite news , title=FatFace loses £225m on write-offs , url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7442971/Fat-Face-loses-225m-on-write-offs.html , author=Richard Fletcher , date=15 March 2010 , accessdate=14 July 2014 , newspaper= The Daily Telegraph {{cite news , url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/fat-face-pair-could-scoop-35m-6943630.html , title=FatFace pair could scoop £35m , newspaper= London Evening Standard , author=Jonathan Prynn , date=2 September 2004 , accessdate=14 July 2014 {{cite news , url=http://www.retail-week.com/companies/fat-face , newspaper= Retail Week , title=FatFace : company profile , accessdate=14 July 2014 {{cite news , url=http://www.scotsman.com/business/finance/isis-set-to-land-163-20m-in-fat-face-market-listing-1-1298895 , title=Isis set to land £20m in FatFace market listing , date=7 February 2004 , accessdate=14 July 2014 , newspaper= The Scotsman {{cite news , url=http://www.retail-week.com/sectors/fashion/fat-face-bought/41741.article , title=FatFace bought , date=9 May 2005 , newspaper= Retail Week , accessdate=14 July 2014 {{cite news , url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b51f76b8-81db-11e3-a600-00144feab7de.html , title=The ski bums who understood the bottom line , authors=Lina Saigol, Andrea Felsted , date=20 January 2014 , accessdate=14 July 2014 , newspaper= Financial Times

External links

Official FatFace website

Official FatFace US website
Clothing retailers of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1988 British brands Cyberattacks Data breaches Hacking in the 2020s