Successful relaunch of Hot Tuna brand in the UK
12 October 2006
Hot Tuna (International) PLC (AIM:HTT), a lifestyle apparel brand with authentic surf heritage, announces today that it has successfully re-launched the Hot Tuna brand into the UK surf market.
The Company is pleased to announce it has already secured orders for the Spring Summer 2007 season in the UK from several key independents and major groups. The stores are due to receive their initial orders from the middle of March 2007, in time for Easter and the start of the UK Summer season.
The new range has been extremely well received and great support has been associated with the previous history of such an iconic brand. Hot Tuna UK’s launch plan is to establish an initial account base of ‘A’ grade independent surf lifestyle retailers together with several of the major retailers. So far the Company has secured business with some of the most respected and key independents for Hot Tuna to be associated with including Fluid, one of the main retailers of surf apparel in the East Anglian region, which has eight stores based in Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford, Norwich and Cambridge.
Two Seasons, a core retailer of street, surf and snow wear in the Midlands, has also agreed to distribute Hot Tuna’s products. Two Seasons has seven stores located in Northampton, Cambridge, Solihull, Coventry, Worcester and Nottingham.
Agreements have also been signed with Shore Watersports and Cult Clothing. Shore Watersports operates two stores, in Wittering and Hayling Island, and possesses one of the largest ranges of wetsuits for sale in the UK. Cult Clothing is one of the UK’s top independent street fashion stores and has eleven stores located in Belfast, Cambridge, London, Birmingham, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Norwich, Glasgow, Oxford and Brighton.
Commenting on the re-launch, Ranjit Murugason, Executive Chairman of Hot Tuna, said: “We are extremely pleased with the strong progress that Hot Tuna has made over the summer months and it is exciting to see how quickly the UK market is welcoming back the Hot Tuna brand. This proves that the brand has maintained its excellent reputation and desirability in one of the toughest fashion marketplaces.”
For further information:
| Hot Tuna (International) PLC | |
| Ranjit Murugason, Executive Chairman | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7372 9378 |
| ranjit_murugason@hottunaplc.com | |
| Seymour Pierce Limited | |
| Sarah Wharry / Parimal Kumar | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7107 8000 |
| parimalkumar@seymourpierce.com | www.seymourpierce.com |
Media Enquiries:
| Abchurch | |
| Henry Harrison-Topham / Chris Lane | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700 |
| henry.ht@abchurch-group.com | www.abchurch-group.com |
Notes to Editors:
Hot Tuna International PLC (AIM:HTT) owns the rights to the Hot Tuna brand, a progenitor of global youth fashion, born in Australia with a heritage of authentic surf culture.
Hot Tuna is one of the world’s most iconic names in surf lifestyle and can trace its roots back to 1969 when it was founded by a surfer and his fashion designer wife. Though the label had not been actively marketed over for the last decade, it retained an organic cult status among core action sports enthusiasts.
In June 2005, Hot Tuna International PLC purchased the ‘Hot Tuna’ brand from Frontier International (Holdings) Pty Ltd, listed on AIM in September 2005, and has since started to aggressively market the brand and reinvigorate the business. The Company now owns all intellectual property rights to its name and related iconography, and has put in place key management drawn from the executive ranks of Quiksilver, O’Neill and Ocean Pacific, among others.
Headquartered in the UK, Hot Tuna operates design, marketing and distribution hubs in the USA, Australia and the UK. In its core markets, Hot Tuna sells products, which are directly manufactured in facilities in North America, Europe and in China.
Hot Tuna offices are maintained in Sydney, Los Angeles and London.
For more information, visit www.hottunaplc.com