Online women's fashion brand Sosandar has grown to become one of the largest companies of its type in the North West over the last few years.
Founded by two friends in 2015, the business is now listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market and counts a whole host of celebrity fans including Holly Willoughby, Fearne Cotton and Coronation Street stars.
The company has also been busy recently extending its partnerships with the likes of John Lewis and Next.
But how much do you know about the Wilmslow-headquartered brand?
Here, BusinessLive lifts the lid on the company which is going from strength to strength.
How it all started
Online fashion brand Sosandar was founded by friends Julie Lavington and Alison Hall in 2015.
They had the idea for the Wilmslow-based company after first meeting when working at Look magazine, a weekly gossip, fashion and lifestyle publication.
The founders set out to specifically target the generation who have moved beyond throwaway fashion searching for quality, affordable clothing.
A statement on Sosandar's website reads: "After 20 years working in fashion magazines, we launched Sosandar after hearing the same complaints from women time and time again.
"Women like us who wanted fashion to make them feel simultaneously sexy, feminine and chic.
"Women who wanted sleeves and longer lengths, but couldn’t find them. Who wanted flattering dresses that make getting dressed easy, and work for every occasion. We understand that you don’t want to wear boring clothes to work, at weekends - or ever."
How it's going
The company floated on the London Stock Exchange's AIM in 2018, raising £5m.
Its products have also been worn by the likes of Holly Willoughby, Fearne Cotton and Coronation Street stars.
On the IPO Julie Lavington, in an interview with the MEN, said: "That really enabled us to take the business to the next level.
"We are a small company to IPO and it brings a different set of challenges because it means you have a lot of shareholders that you have to make sure you are speaking to and looking after.
"But we had 40 shareholders when we were private so we were used to managing that relationship."
In May 2021 Sosandar revealed plans to raise almost £6m to invest in stock from the autumn and winter season onwards and extend its partnerships with retails such as John Lewis, M&S and Next.
The boardroom
The company is led by non-executive chairman Bill Murray and co-founders and co-chief executives Allison Hall and Julie Lavington.
Mr Murray previously spent 22 years at Haymarket Media Group and has worked with the founders of Sosandar since early 2014.
He has been chairman since the role's inception in 2016.
Mr Murray has also been chairman of The Hollins Murray Group since 2009 and chairs the board of 10ACT Ltd, trading as Trackback.
Before co-founding the company, Alison Hall was editor of Look magazine having first started out as a reporter for regional newspapers.
Her first job at a magazine was at EMAP's Slimming and was promoted to acting editor before moving on to More.
Also before Sosandar, Julie Lavington launched Look magazine in 2007. Prior to that she was publishing director of the TV portfolio at H. Bauer from 2001 to 2006.
The company's directors also include chief financial officer Steve Dilks and non-executive directors Mark Collingbourne, Nick Mustoe, Adam Reynolds and Andrew Booth.
Who owns Sosandar?
The largest since shareholder in the company is currently Octopus Investment Nominees with a 9.42% stake.
Second is Lombard Odier Asset Management (Europe) with a 5.95% holding, just ahead of Canaccord Genuity Group on 5.15%.
Fourth is Schroders plc which has a 5.01% stake, according to Sosandar's website.
Alison Hall and Julie Lavington have a 2.76% holding each.
Non-executive chairman has a 0.18% stake while non-executive directors Nicholas Mustoe (2.55%), Adam Reynolds (1.02%) and Mark Collingbourne (0.48%) also own shares.
