While their broad shoulders were certainly an advantage on the pitch, our founders, former England rugby players Fran Cotton and Steve Smith, found that they made shopping for everyday clothes a little awkward…so they set out to make them themselves. That was over 30 years ago in 1987, and today, we’ve become a successful business with a team of almost 1000 staff and an annual turnover that increases year on year.

Now into their fifth decade of friendship and our fourth decade of business, Cotton Traders as it is today shows that some things haven’t changed. While the brand name has become synonymous with comfortable clothing for real people, the commitment the guys showed on the pitch still shines through in our sense of team spirit.