British sports and custom apparel company Y1 Group has acquired university clothing specialist Redbird Apparel in a seven-figure deal, creating a combined business generating more than £7.5 million in annual revenue.
The deal, announced on Tuesday, brings together two founder-led companies that each began with a few thousand pounds drawn from their founders’ student loans. Both have grown without taking on venture capital, funding expansion through profits. The companies said both businesses grew organically, building long-term relationships across education and grassroots sport.
Y1 Group, which appeared on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, supplies bespoke sportswear, teamwear and custom merchandise. Redbird Apparel sells fashion-led university clothing, rapid-turnaround collections and an e-commerce platform. The companies said the combination creates one of the UK’s leading providers of premium branded apparel for schools, universities, sports clubs and organisations.
Chris Rea, founder of Y1 Group, said the deal reflected a change in how organisations buy branded clothing. “Ten years ago, organisations bought branded merchandise to give away. Today, they invest in apparel that builds identity, loyalty and belonging,” he said.
“People want clothing they’re proud to wear – not promotional stash that ends up at the back of a wardrobe. Redbird recognised that shift early, building an exceptional business around great design and customer experience.”
Rea said the acquisition “puts us firmly on track to achieve our 2030 ambition of £20 million turnover and becoming the UK’s fastest-growing sports apparel provider”.
Redbird was founded by Guy Brown and Laurence Snow while the pair were students at the University of Exeter, each investing £1,000 from their student loans. The company has since fulfilled more than 200,000 orders, supplying clothing and merchandise to universities, sports clubs and student societies across the UK, including Oxford and Cambridge.
The founders said Y1 Group’s Dragons’ Den appearance had been well known among student entrepreneurs on the Exeter campus while they were building Redbird, and that the business that inspired them has now bought them.
Brown said: “The company that first inspired us has now bought us. We love that.
“We were both students at Exeter university. We both started Redbird with just £1000 each from our student loans because we believed university clothing deserved to be better. Students wanted apparel that looked and felt like brands they already wore – not generic merchandise designed around the cheapest possible product.
“We focused on building a sustainable business through great products and happy customers, growing to thousands of orders without taking on venture capital. Joining Y1 gives us the scale, expertise and investment to take that vision even further.”
According to the British Promotional Merchandise Association, the UK branded merchandise market is worth more than £1.2 billion annually. The companies said organisations are increasingly prioritising higher-quality apparel that builds long-term brand affinity over short-lived promotional giveaways.
The combined group will offer bespoke custom apparel, rapid-turnaround fashion collections, e-commerce merchandise platforms and branded accessories.
Y1 Group said the deal, an example of growth through acquiring an established business rather than building from scratch, forms part of its long-term strategy to expand across education, grassroots sport and premium branded apparel.
