Our Best Ever Event on Company Record  The National Game Fair, Vinnie Jones, a Trench Coat, and a Canoe

I'll be honest with you. Going into the National Game Fair, I was nervous.

Not the quiet, background kind of nervous either. The kind where you lie awake the night before going through everything that could go wrong. We'd had a lot of hype surrounding this one, conversations at previous events, people saying they'd see us there, genuine anticipation and that brings its own pressure. When people are expecting something, the last thing you want to do is let them down.

The stand itself was our biggest yet a full six-by-six metres, the same footprint we'd used at Badminton International Horse Trials, which had been our previous best show. We knew what we were capable of with that space. The question was whether the National Game Fair crowd would respond the same way.

The Night Before, A Bar, Some Business Owners, and a Slight Wobble

The night before the event opened, I found myself in the bar having a conversation with some other business owners the kind of informal chat that happens at trade events, comparing notes, swapping stories. And then the LANX team arrived.

LANX are a British-made shoe manufacturer. Nearly twenty staff. Beautifully turned out. The kind of operation that makes you stop mid-sentence and quietly reassess whether you've done enough preparation. They didn't make me nervous for the usual reasons it wasn't about competition. It was more that standing next to something that well-established made me acutely aware of exactly where Lockwood is in its own journey. Still young. Still building. Hungry, but not yet settled.

I went to bed that night with a lot on my mind. And then the show opened.

Friday

The Churchill Leads the Way, and Vinnie Jones Walks In

Friday was brilliant from the off. The stand looked right, the footfall was strong, and the best seller of the day was the Churchill Smock which, given the crowd at the National Game Fair, felt exactly appropriate. The Churchill is built for people who spend real time outdoors, in real British weather. That's this audience to a tee.

And then, mid-afternoon, Vinnie Jones came to the stand. (after some gentle persuasion) "Mr Jones Sir can i have 18 seconds of your time please" 

Now I started to give him the pitch. The story, the background, how it all started. He stopped me almost immediately. "Yes," he said. "I know. You're the ex-soldier making everything in Britain. I've been on your website. I've read the story. I really like it."

I didn't have a great deal to say to that. It was one of those moments that just lands on you. We kept talking for a while, and it was a genuinely enjoyable conversation. But I'll remember that first sentence for a long time.

We also had the most wonderful thing happen throughout the weekend so many people coming to the stand with wedding gifts for me and Ruth. Strangers, customers, people who'd followed the brand online and wanted to mark the occasion. I wasn't expecting it, and it moved me more than I probably showed at the time. Thank you every single one of you.

By the end of Friday, we had set a new single-day record for Lockwood at an event.

Saturday

The Barracks Range Takes Centre Stage

Saturday the energy on the stand was brilliant. The Barracks range of gilets dominated the day, the Ladies' Knightsbridge in particular drew a huge amount of attention, with the Ladies' Victoria & Gentleman's Knightsbridge, both performing strongly alongside them. People are discovering that the gilets layer perfectly with the Knightsbridge Quarter-Zip, and once they see that combination on the stand, it tends to go home with them

Sunday

Two Smocks, One Very Close Call, and a New Overall Record

Sunday rounded the weekend off with the kind of finish you couldn't have scripted. The day came down to a very close contest between the Falklands Smock and the Churchill Smock for best seller of the day. Both had people picking them up, trying them on, asking about the stories behind them which is the conversation I never get tired of having.

And when the final numbers came in, Sunday had eclipsed Friday by several hundred pounds. Three days. Two records broken. The National Game Fair is now our best ever event on company record.

A Manufacturer's Wedding Present and Something Princess Anne Asked About

I mentioned in passing that our manufacturer had sent us a wedding present. I want to give that a proper moment, because it deserves one.

They gifted Ruth and I some samples of the Lockwood trench coat for our wedding present.

For those who were with us at the Royal Windsor Horse Show earlier this year, you may remember that Princess Anne asked us directly whether we'd ever produce a trench coat. We noted it. We didn't forget it. So they were first seen in person at the game fair. 

It's not live yet but it's coming. And when it does, it'll be something we're very proud of.

Monday, Tuesday, and a Canoe

After a very full Monday catching up on orders, emails, and everything that piles up while you're away from a desk for three days, I did something I haven't done enough of lately I had a nap. Properly refreshed, I then made a trip into Wales to collect a canoe for some filming we have coming up this week. And then across to Bridgnorth to collect a second canoe, which was lent to me by a genuinely brilliant gentleman who was in the process of selling it. When he realised I'd be re selling it shortly after, he offered to lend it instead and when I asked why, he said he'd looked us up, read the story, and just wanted to help.

That keeps happening with Lockwood. And it never stops meaning something.

This Morning

A Cycle to the Factory

This morning I cycled to the factory for the first time.

It doesn't sound like much. But it means everything. We burnt the boats. Left the military. Made the move so that Lockwood could be the full focus, the full commitment. And now we live within cycling distance of where everything is made.

I pedalled to the factory this morning and thought about what it means to have genuinely done it to have backed yourself completely, with no safety net, and arrived somewhere that feels like the right place to be.

What's Coming This Week

On the product side, this Friday sees the launch of the Lifeguards polo top an all-maroon piece that we expect to be our fastest seller yet after what happened with the Harlequin launch. Early access is going to the mailing list first, so if you're not on it, get on it. The link is in the footer.

Preorders are also now open for the next batch of British Harlequin polo tops our fastest-selling product ever, which sold out in XL within the first 20 or so minutes of the first run. And coming further down the line is an all-navy version the Blues and Royals which we'll share more about in due course.

The filming this week canoes on the water, product in the field is the next step in telling this story properly. Watch the Instagram and YouTube for that.

The Week in Summary

Nerves. A bar conversation that made me question everything. Three days that broke every record we had. Vinnie Jones who already knew the story. A trench coat. A borrowed canoe. And a cycle to the factory.

We're not a big brand yet. But we're building one. Properly. From the ground up. One week at a time.

God bless, God save the King.

Jacob Lockwood