When Damian Cooper hung up his rugby boots he was sure he wanted to go into business for himself.
And it’s fair to say that the journey from there to where he is today more than matched the trials and tribulations he faced on the field.
Unify Brand Partnerships has grown over the past 17 years to be one of the leading multi-branded active, outdoor, and lifestyle fashion distributors in the 海角视频.
The Cwmbran-based business now employs almost 40 members of staff and has a turnover of more than £12m projected for 2021.
Damian grew up in Nantyglo and attended Nantyglo Comprehensive School. He played rugby from the age of 10 and started with Nantyglo and Blaina within the mini rugby then moved on to play youth rugby with Abertillery.
As a teenager, he represented Welsh schools, where he played with Scott Quinnell, Rob Howley, and Derwyn Jones, but suffered a serious injury while in the under 20’s Welsh training trials at the age of 19. A torn cruciate knee ligament meant he missed two-and-a-half years of playing, enduring six operations during that time.
He returned to rugby at 22 and played for Blaina for two seasons, before moving on to what was the premiership (pre-regional rugby) with Newbridge RFC.
“This was the year that Rugby went professional,” Damian says.
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“That season we played in the European Challenge Cup and against sides like Clermont, Agen, Gloucester, Sale, and Glasgow.”
This saw Damian come up against some of the biggest names of the game.
“My opposite number for Agen was Phillipe Benetton, the French flanker, and also playing for Agen was Marc del Maso the French hooker. He was sent off in the first half for punching our scrum half from behind,” he recalls.
“The best player I played against during this time was Colin Charvis. He was very underrated by the Welsh rugby public and was a world class operator in the back row.”
During the second year at Newbridge, Damian was made captain mid-season but unfortunately broke his tibia/fibula and was out of action for another two-and-a-half years.
After four operations, Damian returned to rugby and played some games with Nantyglo RFC and Abertillery RFC, before returning to Newbridge at the age of 29 for three seasons, and was captain for the last two seasons.
“Although the injuries and operation took their toll and I was struggling with an arthritic knee and really playing game to game and limping around in between,” said Damian.
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“I was then appointed Director of Rugby once I retired in 2004/05.
“I thoroughly enjoyed playing rugby but was frustrating at times with the injuries sustained. However, I believe this made me stronger and definitely more resilient for challenges we now face day today and in building a successful team and business.
“After retiring from rugby, I started the business and always had the entrepreneurial spirit from a young age and a desire to work for myself.”
Damian took a step back from rugby after retirement, apart from watching his son play for Brynmawr juniors and then through to the youth team. He was then approached to help out with the coaching for a few months in 2018, that eventually ended up being almost three years. He says that coaching the boys helped het his head away from the business. Two of the boys he coached now work with him at Unify.
Damian started the business in 2004.
“Funding came about from buying a house during the housing boom in 2004,” Damian explains.
“The property doubled in price in the first nine months of ownership, and with my wife’s blessing, we sold the house to fund the first 12 months without earning anything. We then rented a house with our young family for a year to get the business up and running.”
Damian had previously worked in the sports industry for brands like Fila and Canterbury, and had built up a network of contacts and initially started the business as a self-employed sales agent.
“This was a huge gamble, with having two young children at the time, as earnings came through sales commission only. If you didn’t sell, you didn’t earn a penny,” Damian admits.
He says it took a huge amount of work and energy to get things moving for the first few years, but it saw the company represent brands such as Samurai rugby, Nike Swim, and Hilly clothing.
“During the beginning stages of the business, I worked 70 plus hours a week, building a strong partnership with Samurai, and the business really began to get good momentum,” he recalls.
“The first breakthrough was the partnership with Under Armour at the end of 2005 as a regional agent for the south of the 海角视频. The relationship with Under Armour started after becoming aware of the US-based company in 2004.
“The brand was gaining momentum in North America as a technical, sports brand with a huge focus on compression garments.
“A former colleague and I contacted Under Armour to secure the brand for the 海角视频 but unfortunately, they appointed another 海角视频-based company a few weeks before.
“My colleague went on to work for Under Armour and then 10 months later they approached me again and I took over the Sales Agency.
“We were the first people representing the brand in the 海角视频 and Europe. Under Armour then became a key part of my portfolio of brands. The brand, at that time, was unknown in the 海角视频 and Europe and we worked incredibly hard to build the brand within the leading sports retailers in the 海角视频.”
The next big breakthrough for the business was the signing of the WRU in 2008 as the official kit supplier.
“As we grew the brands within the portfolio, I started to recruit more staff and adapted the same sales agency model,” Damian says.
“From there, I diversified the business by taking on outdoor and lifestyle fashion brands, with surf brands, such as Havaianas, Jan Sport Backports, and Nixon, alongside footwear brands.
“Growing the business beyond the sports industry categories was one of the best strategic moves we’ve made with the business. It allowed us a reach across retail categories.”
Damian says another key milestone in the business was in 2013 when they switched the business model to distribution partnerships. This takes on full responsibility for brands within the 海角视频 and Ireland markets.
This resulted in Unify securing more renowned leading brands, such as Teva, 2XU, Reef, Moon Boot, Cotopaxi, Rumpl, Nixon, Feetures.
“Switching to a distribution lead model saw a massive acceleration in the turnover of the business,” says Damian.
By January 2020 Unify Brand Partnerships had built a broad network of leading retailers, buyers, and influencers, that ranged from independent boutiques to global fashion houses and e-commerce platforms.
“In January 2020 we started to get concerned about news filtering from the Far East,” says Damian.
“Then as the pandemic quickly took hold we really didn’t know what the short, mid, or long-term future would look like. We had to react quickly, revise and plan accordingly.”
At the end of March, early April 2020, Unify Brand Partnerships was faced with significant cancellations from its 海角视频 customer base while receiving full containers of product from their factories in Asia and Europe.
To protect the business, Damian decided to furlough the majority of his staff and kept a skeleton staff of six people to run the business from April and through to May 2020.
“As things improved, we began to bring all staff back from furlough on a phased return, with no redundancies,” says Damian.
“We saw a significant increase in sales from our key online customers, with the likes of ASOS experiencing a record-breaking year.
“This is when we made the decision to turn greater attention to the online channels whilst Unify’s bricks and mortar accounts were closed. We were always keen on adding online capability and the pandemic accelerated this decision.”
Damian says that while the business is financially strong they did receive some support during the unprecedented, challenging times.
“We appreciate the key support provided by our Brand Partners, HSBC, Development Bank of Wales, the Welsh Government and local authority Torfaen Council,” he says.
However, the past year has seen the business grow in size, with the Cwmbran headquartered agency now employing 38 people, with 15 new staff hires in the past 12 months, across all departments within sales, customer service, finance, logistics, warehousing, and marketing.
Damian says they have invested in company infrastructure to support the accelerated company growth, with the refurbishment of their office space, showrooms, 25,000 sq ft warehousing space, the development of a new B2B system, as well as the launch of a new B2C E-commerce Division.
Two members of staff were recruited from Peacocks that had gone into administration (it was bought out of administration by the CEO with backing from an international consortium) for our new ECOMM team including our new ecommerce manager.
“As a result of all the support and quick pivot in strategy, we have grown the business turnover and P&L [profit and loss],” says Damian.
“During Covid, we grew the business 20% with great support from our brand partners, like Teva and Reef. Although Unify Brand Partnerships is an independent SME, we partner and work with major global brands.”
Damian says Unify Brand Partnerships are on track this year to double the turnover to £12m revenue.
“We feel fortunate to work with great brands that have actually grown during the pandemic and we are very proud of our track record of delivering success for the brand we represent year on year,” he says.
Damian adds that he scouts and researches up-and-coming brands in other markets such as the US, Asia, and Europe, and that Unify is very selective on who they represent.
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Damian expects Unify to continue to develop and grow within its existing portfolio of brands and invest in its Ecomm capability.
He also feels there is potential to expand into retail store openings for the brands they represent in the coming years. Unify is in the process of finalising a central London showroom, as well as the investment and set up of a new B2B system.
For some of the brands the business represents, such as 2XU, Unify will be running all brand activation/trade events within the 海角视频, such as the Brighton Marathon, so Damian feels there is potential with the brands his company represents that has yet to be tapped but he says it’s part of the business’s strategic, future plans.
“With 2XU we have recently signed eight leading 海角视频 ambassadors including the Cardiff Blues and Welsh Rugby players, Josh Adams and James Botham,” Damian says.
“We also recently signed a deal with Team Bath Netball who are the most successful Super league Netball team and will be announcing two English premiership rugby clubs within the next couple of weeks.
“We will continue to expand our team over the coming years and are really excited to see what the future holds with the company expansion plans in place.
“It’s a pivotal time for the business as we navigate new and exciting challenges, which provide additional opportunities for the dedicated and passionate team we have in place.
“We have quietly got on with our business and I guess keeping a low profile, we are now gaining momentum and it’s a great journey to be on and share our story within the Wales Business community.”