This Friday Underlines chats to Mark Tweed, Brand Director of Cyberjammies. Enthusiastic and energetic, he is respected and admired for his work ethic – helping to create a leading nightwear brand for all the family which last year reached over £20million turnover. Mark is modest about his achievements but is looking forward to the next challenge for this multiple award-winning brand.
Life before Cyberjammies?
I’ve always been a committed individual. Before Cyberjammies I was a merchandiser at Marks & Spencer for nearly 8 years, starting straight from university. The M&S graduate training programme was amazing. We learned so much in a safe environment and it allowed us to test our knowledge without the fear of making some hefty mistakes. This was a good thing! Had they let me lose on the M&S nightwear business back then a mistake could have been very costly, running into millions! I started working in the lingerie departments and spent most of my time as the merchandiser of ladies’ nightwear. So, I guess that means I have nearly 30 years of nightwear experience. That’s a niche!
What is different about working in this sector?
I won’t be the first person to say, the lingerie and nightwear industry is a very ‘small’ big industry! Whilst we are solely a nightwear brand, we have good relationships with all the lingerie brands. There is genuine respect, support and honesty from everyone in the industry, even amongst competitors. So much so, I would count many people within the lingerie and nightwear industry as friends. As I’ve been dedicated to this industry for my entire career, I’m probably not the best person to comment on how it differs from others. However, it appears, from the outside, that other larger industries/categories may find it a little harder to replicate the same support network and camaraderie. I would also suggest Underlines has had a big hand in that achievement!
If you were not working in this industry, what do you think you would be doing instead?
The advice I am giving my children as they approach an important period in their lives is ‘Do what you love’. For me, I suspect that would’ve meant not spending the last 30 years in retail/lingerie and nightwear. Instead, I would have been in sports business management. I’ve always loved sports, and that passion has very much filtered through to my son. However, the last 10 years spent managing our brand has been my most challenging and certainly the most rewarding experience.
I genuinely love what I do, I remain passionate about it. So maybe I wouldn’t have ended as far away as I think!
“I genuinely love what I do, I remain passionate about it”
A typical week?
There isn’t one. I cover the full spectrum of the business from sales, website, to production planning and from marketing to HR. As with all brands we are working on 3 or 4 seasons at any one time, so every week is varied and challenging. I won’t lie, I’m grateful to have survived December! From selling the new AW25 collections to retailers, to photoshoots, to constantly working on production to maximising sales through December and into the New Year, I needed a few days off! We are always looking forwards and upwards and challenging ourselves to be better than the year before.
Your greatest challenge?
Hitting the standards I set for myself. My wife frequently reminds me that the standards I set can be a little demanding for me, and for the people around me. I’m running the London marathon in April to raise funds for Leukaemia Care. I haven’t run a marathon for over 25 years and yet I’ve set myself a challenging time and an ambitious financial target which exceeds that set by the charity! I guess that pretty much sums me up.
Having had a bit of a health wobble, a few years ago, with a recurring collapsed lung, the time I spent in hospital was very challenging. I can clearly remember the mental struggle dealing with this. However, whilst life has always thrown challenges in my path, I’ve always been able to find a way through without them having a lasting effect on my well-being.
Bringing it back to Cyberjammies. As with all businesses, those first few months when Covid first hit were incredibly challenging! The timing coincided with a major warehouse move which was essential for the growth of the business. Had we not made this move we would certainly not be where we are today. We managed to move our stock, safely and swiftly and were trading again within a couple of weeks. On that first day, when the online orders started to flow through, I burst into tears!
“We now find ourselves at another crossroads as a business”
We now find ourselves at another crossroads as a business. Having grown to over £20m turnover in the last year, we now face more competition than ever. That competition comes from other nightwear brands but also every retailer has at least a small range of nightwear within their collection.
How do we continue our double-digit growth once again? That’s a challenge we are working hard on.
Proudest moment to date?
Winning the best-selling nightwear brand for the 7th year in a year in November is right up there. I’m also proud of surviving my appearance on the panel for The Apprentice Final. There was a fair amount of nausea as well! However, seeing my family achieving pretty special things every day, that’s what stands out. Granted, that’s lots of moments!
Your biggest mistake?
Selling my one bedroom flat in West Hampstead when I was 25, can you imagine how much that would be worth now?! Having said that, I went travelling on the proceeds and those memories and life experiences are still very much with me. It can’t have been that much of a mistake. Aside from that, can’t say I have any. Just lessons learned.
Any idea on where you will be in 10 years’ time?
I will be 61. I suspect Cyberjammies will have outgrown me by then. I’m thinking, by then, I will be giving a chunk of my time back in helping others. I can’t imagine I will be fully retired as I’m not sure I’ll be comfortable not working at all. Even at 60+ I will have some advice and pearls of wisdom to impart to other businesses. I will most certainly be following the England cricket team when they are on their travels to sunnier climbs. I’m thinking India (obviously with Cyberjammies), West Indies and Australia….
The one product you cannot live without?
Sorry, it’s the iPhone.
A special mention to…
My wife, Shelly. We both had good careers when we met; I was already at Cyberjammies, Shelly at M&S. When we decided to have children, it was Shelly that took the tough decision to take time out of her career to give our kids the best possible start they could have. Shelly is now back full time, but I very much appreciate the sacrifice she has made to allow me to achieve pretty special things at Cyberjammies. Our kids are doing great, and I largely have Shelly to thank for juggling all the balls.
Time out?
Watching sport, whether that is going to watch Arsenal, Essex cricket, England cricket or watching my son play cricket and my daughter dance. These are probably the best releases for me. I don’t need a huge amount of downtime to recharge the batteries and go again. However, 10 days in the sun always works wonders.
Pet hate?
How long have you got??? But top of the list, lateness. Closely followed by a lack of effort.
