Then in October, newly formed company Severn Under became the licensed distributor of Greg Norman Collection (GNC) in Europe. Taking on his third job title in four months was Severn Under's brand director Wilkinson. As for MacGregor, SGB Golf understands that - apart from in Germany - it is a ‘dormant' brand in Europe, while it continues to trade in the United States, continues to have Greg Norman seated as chairman and major shareholder, and continues to own the GNC brand worldwide.
"MacGregor pulled the European operation last year mainly due to the MacGregor situation, as opposed to the Greg Norman Collection situation," explains Wilkinson. "That gave me the opportunity to re-invest in the business and secure the license, which is where Roy Howell got involved."
Howell is new to the golf trade. The Shropshire-based businessman has enjoyed success in the gaming industry, and part of the attraction to Howell of backing GNC is a synergy with his embroidery company, Corporate Togs.
"Basically it is business as usual," says Wilkinson, "except we are going to be servicing customers a lot quicker than we had done previously. We will have all our stock and embroidery on one site."
"We will provide the fastest turn-around of any golf apparel supplier in the UK," adds Howell.
The decision-making process at GNC Europe will also be faster, as it no longer stretches across the Atlantic and into the ravines of a US conglomerate.
"I like that we are the only privately funded brand in our sector," adds Howell. "Therefore we can act quicker than bigger companies that need approval through usual chains of command. We intend to increase out market share quite substantially."
They have had to act fast too, because while most of their competitors were launching complete Spring-Summer ranges in the autumn, Wilkinson was dashing around to source new products such as woollen garments, trousers and socks - the 25% of GNC's expanded European range that has not been designed and sourced from the United States.
GNC's target market remains more traditional golfers, perhaps aged 40 and over, or in other words, golf's ruling majority. GNC's core Play Dry Performance line is aimed at them. "We start with high-quality, moisture-wicking polyester which is very comfortable," says Wilkinson. "Then we blend it with Egyptian cotton and Lycra, so the garment is high performance but also nice to touch. The older golfer believes a good shirt must have that cotton feel, so our top-end shirts feel like cotton, but have performance characteristics. Those shirts will account for about 40% of our business."
So far the signs are promising. With GNC shirts retailing between £25 and £50, Howell claims that bookings so far in 2009 have made up for lost time and are up 30% on this time in 2008. The UK remains GNC's strongest European market, with supporting strongholds in Portugal and Denmark.
"Once we have developed our range and won back the confidence of our customers - who were waning because of the difficulties the head company was facing - there is huge potential," says Howell. "So we are delighted all the experienced GNC sales agents have joined the new company. As mergers go on elsewhere, those brands will distance themselves from customers, whereas we are getting closer to them," says Wilkinson when considering the effects of the slow economy.
"People are more likely to buy a golf shirt than a golf club in this climate. Corporate bookings at clubs are in line with 2008 golf shirts are still selling. I believe the market is driven more by weather than economics, so if we see good conditions in Spring, I think we'll have a good year."
Greg Norman Collection has set out its stall for 2009. Now it must deliver.
