intelligence Postscript: Nick and Giles English Those magnifi cent men | by Jade Sermon

From City boys to fl ying Swiss-based handmade watchmakers, Nick and Giles English make every second count

: BIOGRAPHY ‘‘ When you come into

an industry with a fresh perspective, it is often a huge advantage

The story of Bremont almost reads like a Hollywood script – two brothers leave successful City careers to follow their dreams and break into one of the world’s hardest luxury markets. All of this is punctuated with moments of tragedy before the obligatory feel-good ending of success against the odds. The brothers are Nick and Giles English, the dream was to produce a British aviation watch to hold its own against the long-established, market-dominating Swiss brands. The boys’ father, Euan, collected and restored interesting timepieces and was also a renowned display pilot. It was through this love of fl ying that

the Bremont dream almost came to an end before it began when, in 1995, Euan died in a horrifi c crash while practicing for a display. Nick, also in the aircraft, escaped but suffered multiple injuries. Miraculously, he made a full recovery. “That sort of event changes everything about the way you view your life – it makes you take a hard look and reassess,” he says. “I trained as a chartered accountant. The problem was I never saw myself as an accountant and always felt I was on the wrong side of the fence – I wanted to run the business rather than inspect it. My brother and I both realised we weren’t enjoying City life enough to stay there, so we made the decision to go into business restoring vintage aircraft.” As they established themselves in

their new careers, Nick and Giles never forgot their childhood dream of owning a watch brand. Prohibitive costs had been a barrier in the past, but a few years ago the brothers decided to set up a small atelier in Switzerland. In mid-2007, their watches were launched in selected outlets including Harrods and Selfridges. “When you come into an industry with a fresh perspective, it is often a huge advantage,” says Nick.

springboard: | page 50 So, it appears the English boys, who

share the chief executive role, had it all – a love of all things mechanical, a solid background in business and fi nance and co-chairmen who understood the luxury market (namely John Ayton, founder of Links of London, and Robert Bensoussan, previously CEO of Jimmy Choo and Christian Lacroix). The icing on the cake was a small group of ambassadors who fell in love with the brand – Bear Grylls, Jake Meyer, Charley Boorman, Euan McGregor, Orlando Bloom, Graham Bell, Matthew Pinsent and Jeremy Clarkson. The only thing that seems slightly

incongruous in this very British company is the name. Nick explains: “Our surname is English and this would have caused us a few problems with trademarks and could have also appeared slightly naff. We wanted a name that meant something to us – so that the passion of what we felt for the brand could shine through. “About 10 years ago, on a fl ying trip

through France, Giles and I had a forced landing in our 1936 German bi-plane. The farmer who helped us was a former Second World War pilot who allowed us to use his barn to store the aircraft. We stayed with him for a couple of days and were in awe of him and his workshop. His name was Antoine Bremont.” In 2009, Bremont was declaredBest

British Emerging Luxury Brand by Walpole and, despite current market conditions, continues to thrive, with plans to expand throughout Europe and even to China. Each year Nick and Giles expect to make between 2,500 and 3,000 pieces and, as Nick puts it, “hopefully we can continue to grow at a sensible rate and carry on with our mantra to produce beautifully made and robust timepieces.”

For further information, visit: www.bremont.com

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