Austen Pickles: Textiles suited me more than I thought

Austen Pickles set up Buxton Pickles to fulfil the need for high-quality suits made in Europe - and made a fortune. Now he's focused on taking tailoring directly to the customer.

Forty-two year old Austen Pickles' start in textiles was something of an accident. "When I came out of university in 1992 the country was in a recession and it was hard to get a job," he remembers. His then girlfriend's father owned a textile mill and was prepared to take Pickles on. "It helped pay the bills while I looked for a proper' job." Six months later, he was offered a graduate marketing role at Mars, but by then he had realised textiles "were more interesting than I had thought. I was involved in a bit of everything; production, sales, meeting clients."

After five years at the mill he moved to one of its major clients, Berwin & Berwin, a luxury tailor. There he realised "textile production was moving east, to cheaper factories in Europe or Asia". It was after four years, when the tailor switched production from a factory in the Czech Republic to one in Hungary that Pickles spotted his opportunity: "the Czech plant was slightly more expensive, but it was a good factory capable of making great clothes". Pickles decided to quit his job and set up on his own as a wholesaler.

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.