MorphCostumes is an online fancy dress costume retailer founded in 2009 by brothers Ali and Fraser Smeaton and their flatmate Gregor Lawson. The company started as a small online business selling full-body skintight costumes – commonly referred to as Morphsuits, after the founders noticed their popularity at a stag do. In 2014, the Edinburgh-based company rebranded to MorphCostumes and expanded its product line to include traditional fancy dress costumes for men, women, and children. Throughout its journey, the company has secured a total of £4.2m in equity investment and it acquired fancy dress manufacturer Fun Shack in 2019.
We made millions from Spandex costumes…then we nearly lost it all
More Founder Stories
“When you keep banging your head and it bleeds, stop banging and move on”
“I banged my head against a brick wall for 10 years. I tried every which way to make it work, but there comes a point when…you have to stop.” We spoke to Sally to uncover how she successfully bounced back from a decade of disappointment and frustration to build an extraordinary global brand worth £27m…
The twins set to shake up the cosmetics industry
Beijing-born twins Jake Xu and Shane Carnell-Xu launched this men’s cosmetics brand in 2019 after raising funds from angel investors Sally Preston and Neil Mather of Kiddylicious, the children’s snack business. Bestsellers in Shakeup’s skincare and makeup range include moisturiser, under eye concealer and face masks. The brand is stocked by national and overseas retailers, such as Harvey Nichols, Superdrug and Australia’s Myer, and it recently launched its new Face 4ward range in China. The Xu brothers previously set up READY, a creative agency based in Bath.
Great culture is about hiring great people. Nothing else.
Dock & Bay was created in 2015 to reinvent the beach towel. The company’s lightweight towels are made from recycled plastic bottles and are quick drying, compact and sand repellent. In 2017, co-founders Andy Jefferies and Ben Muller appeared on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den, securing a £75,000 investment from Deborah Meaden…
‘YOU GOTTA HAVE FUN, GODDAMIT! THAT’S WHY WE BOUGHT A COMPANY RACEHORSE’
We live in an era of remote working, office pool tables and CEOs signing off emails with smiley emojis. But beneath the fluff, many people still believe deep down that fun and work do not go together – that fun is expensive and a distraction from the DEADLY SERIOUS business of running a company. In these people (you […]
“How I created and lost the Spice Girls, and what it taught me as an entrepreneur”
Not only did Chris Herbert create The Spice Girls but he also managed Five with Simon Cowell amongst many others. More recently, he re-engaged with his 90’s pop roots for the Big Reunion tours, where acts dust off their ‘90’s leather trousers to perform around the world…
‘What creates good entrepreneurship? Obsession!’
This year, Meatless Farm launched a vegan steak made from pea protein, adding to its range of plant-based food that includes meat free mince, burgers and chicken. Danish entrepreneur Morten Toft Bech founded the Leeds-based business in 2016. It opened production hubs in the Netherlands and Canada last year and now exports to more than […]