2023 Round Up

December 29, 2023 4 min read

Wow, what a year it’s been! 2023 has been another action packed year with so much happening from new product launches, onboarding new awesome ambassadors, inspiring events and much more. We have loved looking back at the achievements throughout the past year and are delighted to share some of our 2023 highlights with you all…

Sir Richard's Jacket

Sir Richard Branson has always been a great support to our brand. Back when Meander was in its early ‘kitchen table’ stages, we were awarded the Virgin start-up loan to assist in our very early prototypes. This year we were lucky enough to meet with Sir Richard again ahead of the opening of his new Virgin Hotel in Edinburgh, and had the opportunity to give him his custom made Meander Jacket!

Gleneagles Great Adventure Race 2023

For the second year running, our co-founder Steve took on the challenge of the Gleneagles Great Adventure Race! This year Steve was accompanied by our Meander Ambassador, Tristan Cameron Harper. The race included a 4K Canoe across Loch Earn, a 16K walk/jog/run up Ben Vorlich and a 35K bike ride through the Perthshire Countryside. We were very proud of the boys for representing us and to support such a brilliant, adventure packed weekend!

John Barclay, Meander Ambassador

The entire team was very excited about our latest ambassador, John Barclay joining our ambassador community. It’s been great to see the former Scotland Rugby captain and sports commentator rocking his Meander gear. We have loved getting to know John over the past few months. If you didn’t get a chance, you can read the interview with our co-founder Jill and Johnhere.

Crowdfunding

In July we began our ‘Equity for Meanderers’ campaign on Crowdcube which made for an exciting summer! We were delighted to reach our target quickly and welcome a whole new community of supporters on our journey. The new funding allowed us to expand our range, open a new pop up and there's still so much more to come.

Store Events

Mollie Hughes Book Launch

Mollie Hughes came into the store to talk to us about the launch of her book, ‘Blue Scotland’ which explores the blue spaces of Scotland that sit right on our doorstep. Beyond her publishing success, we were also lucky enough to hear about Mollie’s world record-breaking expeditions to Everest and South Pole which left everyone in the room in awe of her resilience, strength and level of determination.

Rewilding with Peter Cairns

Peter Cairns, director of ‘Scotland: The Big Picture’ and wildlife photographer, came into the store to talk about the amazing work that the charity is doing. We learned shockingly about how Scotland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and how the landscape has changed over the years. He also spoke about what is being done to bring change through Rewilding and boosting biodiversity, which left us all feeling inspired to help.

Introduced the Recycled Puffer

After over 18 months in the development phase we were delighted to launch ourRecycled Puffer. When designing new products we look at where we can add value to our customer's lifestyles and when we realized that most puffer jackets aren’t waterproof, creating a full waterproof puffer seemed like a no brainer! After several months working with our partners at Sympatex to create the recycled fabric and our Portuguese manufacturers we were delighted with the final product and even more so when it almost immediately became our best selling product.

New Squiggle Products

After the launch of our new ‘Squiggle Logo’ in 2022, this summer saw us introduce a variety of new products that proudly boasted the Meander Squiggle, inspired by our favourite road on the NC500! We released the newSquiggle Tees, Squiggle Sweats,Hoodies andCaps too!

Coal Drops Yard

New Pop Up Store! We were very happy to expand our London presence in mid-October with the opening of a brand new pop-up at Coal Drops Yard. We knew this converted Victorian Industrial Hub would make a cool shopping destination for this festive pop-up. You can find us there until the 7th of January!

STV AD

Lights, Camera, Action…

It was finally time to produce our first ever Meander Apparel TV advert on STV! After winning the STV category of The Scottish Edge Awards last year, we have been planning, producing and waiting with excitement to hit the big screens! We had so much fun taking a trip up to the Trossachs for filming that even the weather couldn’t dampen our moods!

A massive thankyou to Jay Golian for helping us put this beautiful piece together, as well as our wonderful models.

Made in Scotland Knitwear

In Autumn we introduced our first ever limited editionknitwear collection , crafted from a Merino and Cashmere blend. We worked with a factory based in Hawick in the Scottish borders who have a long-standing history crafting premium knitwear for luxury brands worldwide. Our co-founders family comes from the Scottish borders, making this ‘Made in Scotland’ range even more special.

The Puppy Puffer

We ended the year with a launch that the whole team was excited about…The Puppy Puffer! We always have an array of cute pooches coming into our stores as well as our own Meander dog, Dexter, so it felt only right to include something for our four legged friends in our range. These dog jackets were created using leftover fabric from our Recycled Puffers making these both good for pooches and the planet :)

1% For the Planet Donations

As proud members of 1% of the planet, each year we give one percent of our annual sales back to environmental charities. As outdoor lovers, we are passionate about supporting these grass routes organisations that are doing such incredible work to protect wildlife, nature and protect our planet. As our brand evolves it’s great to see the small impact that we’re able to make increase each year. This year we’ve donated over £4000, including donating to the RSPB Emergency fund for the Corrimony Wildfires as well as to the Marine Conservation Society, and Scotland: The Big Picture, a rewilding charity supporting Scotland’s wildlife comeback. We’d love to thank you all for supporting the brand and making this happen.