Name: Nipper Skitter
Based: Attleborough
Website: nipperskipper.co.uk
Nipper Skipper offers quality clothing and kit for little sailors and outdoor adventurers aged 0-10 years in an online store.
I set up the business with my husband Mark (non-hands-on soundboard) following an enforced career change, using our savings and passion.
As keen sailors, we struggled to find practical and stylish clothing for our own children (ever tried to persuade a trendy eight-year-old to wear dull coloured waterproofs?). So, we began to dream of sorting the problem out ourselves, hoping to successfully enthuse kids to get outdoors and perhaps get into a boat.
Sailing is a club, so we were thrilled to set up a partnership with the renowned Royal Yachting Association (RYA) in our first year, offering members’ benefits. This gave us credibility and access to our market early on.
The design of Nipper Skipper has been influenced by east coast sailing, [book series] Swallows and Amazons and memories of our own outdoor, whatever the weather, childhoods – themes mirrored by the RYA.
Nipper Skipper stocks branded, quality clothing from the EU. What we really want to do is produce our own clothing line here in the UK.
We know that parents want fun, well-designed performance clothing. So we’ve started designing and the next major step is manufacturing. With a passion for sailing and for getting little ones outdoors and on the water, we want to build a quality, functional and fashionable UK brand.
Fran Farrar is the director and co-founder of Nipper Skipper
