The Rangers Kit Launch - Tom Beahon part 1, August 2020

Overall, Mark, I think fantastically positive in terms of the feedback from fans on the designs of the kit. The home kit has gone down incredibly well, which is fantastic. And from a financial perspective, the amount of kits we've sold has been equally fantastic. I wouldn't say unexpected — I always have to be careful not to come across as overly confident — but within the Castore business we were quietly confident that if we created a good product, there would be fantastic demand from the Rangers fan base, just given the sheer size and passion. And before you even consider the historical issues that may have built up some latent demand, it's been absolutely unbelievable for me and the team to see the brilliant numbers. The EU numbers we've shifted in the first couple of weeks are on par with anything other than the very top Premier League or European teams. It's funny because when you're launching a partnership of this size and complexity, it's never a moment to stop and take stock; you're straight on to the next thing. There are always a million issues to deal with, so you never actually stop and congratulate yourself. But I think it's important for us all to realize that was a really strong performance delivered in a very short space of time. All that said, we're already on to the next one — a lot of exciting stuff in the pipeline.

I think that's exactly right, Mark. You said it there — aside from all the fantastic success we're all aware of, the innovative mindset, being cutting edge, having a challenger mindset as I'd describe it, is something I always challenge my teams at Castore to ensure they have across the business. And that has been met in an almost symmetrical way with the football club and our dealings with the commercial team. We had a lot of conversations about how we launched the kit. The truth is we worked to a very compressed timeline this season. Normally you'd want 12 to 18 months to build up to a partnership launch like this; we had about a third of that. So it was a case of wanting to be innovative but within the realms of first being able to deliver the kit, which is priority one. On the store, there's been more scope to be creative and try different things that others maybe aren't thinking about. I don't want to give it all away today, but we've got the store opening tomorrow — incredibly exciting moment for us, for Castore, for the fans. Most people agree it's long overdue; the fans deserve a store they can call their own. We've challenged ourselves on what we could do differently. There are exciting things for tomorrow, like personalization options in-store, combining the digital and physical offering, player events, talks — taking it beyond just coming in on a Saturday afternoon before the game at Ibrox and making it a seven-day-a-week store. That requires consistent effort and dedication, but that's the challenge we've set ourselves. We're really close with the club to deliver that, and I cannot wait to get the fans' feedback when we open this week.

It's a fluid situation. Our priority number one — and I've said this before but it's worth reiterating — given the previous kit and retail partnership the club had, we were only contractually able to start dispatching product as of August 1st. That frustrated many fans who wanted their home jersey for the first game. That was the earliest possible time. The vast majority have arrived as we expected and on time. In the context of tens of thousands of shirts going out, there has been a fairly small number, but of course for any individual fan it's frustrating. To be candid, packages have been sabotaged — for want of a better word. That's outside my direct control because it's with a third-party carrier, but we've beefed up our customer service team, doubling its size as of today, so there are more people responding to requests. Normally you work to about 2-4% returns; that's been enhanced by the sabotage issue. We've already responded this week so anyone who received a sabotaged product will get a replacement in an unbranded bag. We're working around the clock. It's not something we foreseen; Hermes is a trusted partner and branding the bags seemed like a nice touch, but it hasn't had the effect we hoped. We're reacting as quickly as we can and hope to work through the backlog as soon as possible.

By and large, yes, but I always have to be slightly aware. I get a report three times a week on what's out there on social media, and a lot of that is doctored or people playing games. That accounts for a fair amount of what's been brought to my attention. That said, within the context of 50,000 products going out in 24 hours, there is human error in manufacturing. Normally it accounts for 1-2%, similar to delivery error. Given the volume, it's more than we'd like, but no more than anticipated. For any legitimate concerns, people will get replacements as soon as possible, likely this week. It's a natural part of the business when delivering this many products. We want to be on top of it, and the team is. Hopefully everyone has that flagship product with the required quality very soon if not already.

You're clearly very well informed, Mark — that is very accurate. It was a requirement for us to give other non-Rangers outlets the ability to sell certain products, not all. We have products coming out later this year, pushing as much as possible pre-Christmas. Not everyone will get access to limited edition products, but the broader offering will be sold in a small number of other non-Rangers retail environments. The 95% figure for direct sales from Rangers Store / Castore is highly accurate.

There have definitely been challenges we didn't expect. But I see it as an opportunity, not a challenge. When you and I last spoke, I said my brother's and my ambition for Castore is to build a global challenger brand. That's a big ambition, but we've done a pretty good job delivering on it so far, though we still have a long way to go. You don't build a global sportswear brand without partnering with global football teams like Rangers. We haven't seen this as a challenge but a real opportunity — let's give it everything. We're not Nike; they have 50-70 football clubs in their portfolio. If 10-15 don't go as expected, they still have Liverpool. For us, delivering this deal successfully is fundamental to our future. We've pulled out all the stops — chartered planes to fly products from Europe to our UK factory, staff working all hours. That doesn't mean everything will be perfect; there are always unforeseen challenges. But by and large, the vast majority has been done in a way I'm broadly content with. For me and the business, it's just an opportunity because the demand from this football club is phenomenal. You couldn't ask for a better incentive to give it your all. I don't want to promise everything will be perfect; when you're delivering a project of this scale and complexity on tight timelines, there will be imperfections. All we can do is ensure everything goes into making it as well as possible and rectify any challenges quickly.

Absolutely. This season the clock was against us, so we were closely engaged with the club and through them had access to some fans to understand what they wanted from the new strips. But where I see the big opportunity is the season after this one — the 150th anniversary season. We've got 12 months to prepare, which gives us time to involve fans in designing the kits and wider product range. We're very excited about that and feel privileged to have that lead time.

The Rangers Store is the best email address. There's been a significant change in the last 48 hours in the number of responders due to the sabotage issues. We've taken action to get more people responding, so if the email goes in, they should get a rapid response.

I don't know the honest answer. The team deals with it operationally and looks at it case by case. We have to be slightly careful... I'm not totally sure if I can hear you or not. Can you hear me? Hello Mark? I think I've lost you.

Hi Mark, hi there. I've got you back again.

Sorry Mark, it seems to be a slightly dodgy connection. Can you hear me?