The actor Nicholas Hoult and musician Tom McFarland are among angel and institutional investors that have backed Manors, the fast-growing golf apparel and lifestyle business that numbers Ian Wright, the former England footballer, among its fans.
The fashion brand has raised £1 million in a fundraising that has put a £5 million valuation on the company.
Manors was founded in 2019 by Jojo Regan, 29, Luke Davies, 29, and Nick Watts, 25, keen golfers who were frustrated with the lack of fashionable golf clothing for the under-35 market.
The money raised will be used to expand in South Korea and Japan, which combined now account for more than 20 per cent of revenue, to open a “clubhouse” in central London and to develop the wider business, investing in growing the operations and marketing teams. “While we are committed to building in the UK, there is a huge interest in golf globally. Given our status as a British brand, we’ve picked up strong interest across territories like South Korea and Japan,” Regan said.
Last year Manors worked with Adidas to launch The Beautiful Game, an apparel range that took its inspiration from football fashion.
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Hoult, 33, is best known for playing Tony in Skins , the television drama. He came to prominence in About a Boy , the 2002 film that also starred Hugh Grant. McFarland co-founded Jungle, an electronic music act.
Regan said: “For a long time, the golf market has been dominated by just a handful of brands who had little incentive to shake things up. Clothing was designed by and for 40-plus-year-olds. We, the younger golfer, were forced into either wearing outdated and unflattering clothing or non-golf-related brands. Manors was established to fill that gap, designing golf-appropriate garments engineered for the modern swing but that celebrate the game as something to be explored and enjoyed.”
