Rob Webbon was looking for sustainable sportswear for an ironman triathlon he was competing in back in 2014, when he came up with the idea of launching his own company. A background in environmental science, married with being a keen sportsman, meant Webbon had the passion he needed to found Presca Teamwear. The label makes clothing for cycling, swimming, running and triathlon, and has recently expanded into the bespoke teamwear market. I spoke with Webbon about what makes his sportswear stand out from the crowd. Lucy Sherriff: What was the driving force behind your love for sports, and starting the company? Rob Webbon: I grew up in the countryside, which taught me a love for all things outdoors. I was never a very sporty kid, and didn't get chosen for the first teams at school and it wasn't until much later that I developed a real love for sport. In my early 20s I got hooked on snowboarding and surfing and realised I needed to get fitter and stronger to fully enjoy these. So I began running, then MTB and road cycling and triathlon was the natural progression. I've never been the fastest or the strongest, but I have a "very efficient engine" which means I can hold a decent speed for hours; I'm well suited to endurance events so that's where I focus. I'm very lucky to have a large (and growing!) family who I have very close bonds with. As a result our business is really family focused - we know that our actions will determine the future for our children and we want to make sure that their future is bright. This is the raison d'etre for the company, and also drives our passion for development of youth talent. LS: What makes your business different to others in the market? RW: We have two elements to our brand that are core to everything we do - performance and sustainability. When people have the opportunity to see, feel, and wear our kit, they cannot believe that it is made from recycled materials - like recycled plastic bottles and discarded fishing nets. The fabrics are the highest quality Italian knit that are durable and breathable and we work hard on our designs to make sure that the difference is in the detail. Unlike other brands that might have a small sustainable range, sustainability is at the heart of everything we do across all of our clothing. Our technical clothing is manufactured in the UK so we know who makes our clothes, we print using eco-inks and we keep supply chains short and transparent to reduce carbon emissions. We have our own Presca range but we also create bespoke designs with no minimum order quantities which is also a real USP. We are able to provide customers with the sustainable kit they are asking for and at the same time repurposing plastics, fishing nets and other post-industrial nylon into performance sportswear. We are one of the growing number of companies choosing British-made and we're pleased to be part of revitalizing this industry. LS: What have been some of the biggest challenges you've faced since starting the business? RW: Launching a small business is tough, especially when you are trying to do things more responsibly, which comes with additional cost. As we will not compromise on our ethos, our major challenge has been to put in place an efficient supply chain that meets our needs and the needs of our customers. With the offshoring of manufacturing to parts of the world with lower labour costs it is increasingly difficult to find high quality factories with the skillsets necessary to make technical sportswear in the UK. However, a number of small factories still exist with these capabilities and we're proud to work with one of them. From what we see there's a real renaissance in British-made and hopefully this will lead to an increase in capacity and skills over time. As we have chosen quality over cost, to remain competitive and to stand by our ethos we remain as lean and focused as we can. As a result we don't hold a lot of stock to keep waste to a minimum and we have had to re-educate people away from a "next-day delivery" mentality. We stand by our decision to support local manufacturing and our customers also really support this approach. LS: How do you feel you've changed the world? RW: We have shown the big guys how things can be done! We have proven that performance and sustainability can go hand in hand and we know that major brands have taken inspiration from our work. We hope we can continue to shake up the industry to create a more sustainable manufacturing model for the future. LS: What are your plans over the next five years? RW: We have major growth plans for the next five years. We are raising investment and growing the team which will allow us to create an even better offering for our clients and grow our sales. We will continue to support junior athletes and to support their progress. We also have exciting marketing plans which include working with athletes at the very top of their sports and we are expanding our Ambassador program. Finally we are working with the Centre for Process Innovation on a research project looking to reduce microfibers and we hope to be able to share the results of that project in the next few months. We aim to make the world's best performing sportswear. Period. Oh, and it will also be the world's most sustainable and environmentally sound sportswear on the market.
The UK company makes sustainable clothing for cycling, running, swimming and triathlon and has recently developed a bespoke teamwear range. Products are made from recycled materials, including plastic bottles and discarded fishing nets, and are durable and breathable. The company’s clothing is manufactured in the UK using eco-inks. Supply chains are also kept short and transparent as part of the company’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions. Presca is also working with the Centre for Process Innovation on a research project that seeks to reduce the use of environmentally damaging microfibres.