The Gentleman‘s Journal Podcast

Special Episode! Inside the Crockett & Jones factory

Today we’re taking a deep dive into a brand we’ve loved for a very long time — Crockett & Jones. You’ll know them as one of the first names in  English shoemaking — they make beautiful handmade shoes in timeless styles, with true attention to detail and infectious enthusiasm.

So a couple of weeks ago we headed to their famous factory up in Northampton to meet the people behind the brand — from the pattern cutters, to the clickers, and the closers — and even several members of the Jones family themselves, who still run the business after more than 140 years. 

If you’re interested in British craftsmanship, interested in entrepreneurship, interested in how a historic, family run business adapts itself to the modern day — or if you just quite like shoes — then we hope you’ll enjoy this episode. 

Buy less, buy better — Jacob Dworsky and August Bard Bringeus, Asket founders

Asket is the fashion brand that doesn't want you to buy clothes. The company was set up in 2014, and it focuses on a permanent collection of a few beautifully designed and very well made garments. There are no seasons, no sales, no gimmicks, no fads. The manifesto is simple: buy less, buy better, and keep it longer.

In this episode, the boys talk about their first impressions of one another; their love of crayfish and schnapps; why the word 'sustainability' is rubbish; and how a year-long odyssey to design a single t-shirt nearly drove them mad. Enjoy!

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good — John Foley, Founder and CEO of Peloton

John Foley is the founder and CEO of Peloton, the at-home exercise company. John started out working in a candy factory, before a meandering career took him to Silicon Valley, the record industry, Barnes & Noble and beyond. At 40, he decided to start selling exercise bikes that let you attend spin classes whenever and wherever you wanted. 

Almost everyone told him it was a terrible idea. But after several years of sheer grit (and a few slightly wonky prototypes) the company is now a huge global success — it IPO’d last year, and has been one of the few real success stories of the Coronavirus pandemic, as more and more of us take to exercising at home. 

In this episode, John talks to us about the atmosphere in Silicon Valley during the dotcom boom; about his love for Snickers; about the demise of Kickstarter campaigns; and about his hatred for the phrase “chillax”.

Do interesting things, and interesting things will happen — Sir John Hegarty

Sir John Hegarty is the British Adman extraordinaire, and the industry’s favourite contrarian. He’s the founder of BBH, one of London’s best established and most successful ad agencies, and the brains behind decade-defining campaigns for Levis, Audi, British Airways and Johnny Walker. 

This is an episode from the Gentleman’s Journal archive — we recorded it back in the summer of 2018, but it’s only just seen the light of day. Thankfully, Hegarty’s advice, Oracle-like insight and counterintuitive outlook are timeless. 

In this episode, we spoke about how humour can always save a campaign; about the birth of Flat Eric; about how, actually, you don’t learn much from your failures; and about how storytelling gave birth to the modern human race. 

Don't fit in — Imran Amed, CEO of Business of Fashion

Imran Amed is the founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of Business of Fashion, perhaps the most authoritative voice in the entire fashion industry. Imran started the company on his sofa in London in 2007, and has since grown it into a media powerhouse that employs more than 100 people. In this episode, we spoke about all sorts of things in this very interesting episode: why you should look for your global niche, how ten days on a silent retreat changed Imran’s life, why his dream is to slam dunk like Michael Jordan, and how the high street can save itself in the current crisis.

Go with your gut — Jeremy King, restaurateur

Jeremy King is the restaurateur behind so many of London’s finest and most adored restaurants. Along with his long time collaborator Chris Corbin, he opened the Ivy and J Sheekey and Le Caprice in the nineties, all of which became London’s first true ‘power’ restaurants — and more recently, they’ve been behind places like the Wolseley, the Delaunay, Colbert, Fischer's, Soutine and Brasserie Zedel. 

In this episode, we spoke about how Jeremy decided to bet his whole career on the role of the dice; why he would pretend to be Long John Silver when working in finance; why you should always go with your gut; how the hospitality industry can survive this pandemic; why “I’m doing my best” is a terrible thing to say; and why you should never open a restaurant on a full moon.    

The art of the deal — Eddie Jordan

Our guest today is Eddie Jordan, the former boss and founder of the Jordan Formula One team, racing pundit, and all round legend of the sport.

 

This was a hugely enjoyable conversation — we spoke about how Eddie almost became a dentist as a young man, about the Wild West days of Formula One in the early nineties, about working closely with Bernie Ecclestone, about his unique style of dealmaking, and about how he has calculated that he’s the luckiest man in the world. 

Don't take no for an answer — Joe Grossman of Patty & Bun

Joe Grossman is the founder of Patty & Bun, who, as you probably know, make some of London’s most coveted burgers. Set up at the height of the 'burger boom' in 2012, Patty & Bun has outgunned its many competitors at every turn, and now operates 12 sites across London and elsewhere. At the start of lockdown, Joe launched 'DIY kits' so that his customers could re-create their favourite burgers at home — and by all accounts it's been a roaring success. 

This is a typical Joe Grossman move, as you’ll discover — Joe doesn’t do things by halves, and he likes to charge into a problem all guns blazing. This is almost certainly why his company has been so successful where so many others have faltered. In this episode, we talk about how the first people he spoke to told him Patty & Bun was a terrible idea; why his first ever lunch service at Patty & Bun was so bizarre; and how home delivery is changing the industry day by day. 

Follow your nose — Jo Malone CBE

Our guest on today's episode is Jo Malone CBE — the nation’s favourite perfumer. She founded Jo Malone London, her first fragrance brand, when she was just 21 from a tiny flat in London, before selling it just a few years later to Estée Lauder for undisclosed millions. She now runs Jo Loves, a more experimental and personal perfume brand that takes its inspiration from her own life and memories. 

Today, Jo tells us about synesthesia, the incredibly rare neurological condition that gives her a “super powered nose”; how she had to learn to sell as a seven year old to put food on her family’s table; and why setting up her second business was in fact so much harder than the first. 

(We recorded this episode via Zoom, and we were at the mercy of my provincial internet connection, so I hope you don’t mind if I sometimes sound a little muffled. I think Jo’s stories and wit more than make up for it.)

Embrace megalomania — Simon Woodroffe, founder of YO! Sushi

Our guest on today’s episode is Simon Woodroffe, the founder of YO! Sushi. Simon had never opened a restaurant before when he launched YO! Sushi in Soho in 1997 — and at first, it seemed like the robot waiters, smoke-extracting ashtrays and raw fish served off conveyor belts might be too much for Londoners to get their heads around.

But they soon fell in love with it, of course — and it was Simon’s gung-ho spirit and experimental ideas, in fact, that made the brand such a colossal hit. We recorded this episode on Simon’s beautiful house boat on Cheyne Walk on the Thames — and the conversation bobbed along nicely from Simon’s early days as a set designer for rock and roll acts, to the reasons why he decide to leave Dragons Den, and even his dream to bring private islands to the masses. Enjoy!