March Edinburgh Networking Breakfast – Gregor Lawson – Morph Costumes & Royal & Awesome

Name: March Edinburgh Networking Breakfast - Gregor Lawson - Morph Costumes & Royal & Awesome
Start: 2023-03-23T08:30:00+00:00
End: 2023-03-23T10:00:00+00:00

Published by Admin on 7 February 20237 February 2023

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Networking Breakfast
23 March 2023
8:30 am - 10:00 am

Our Networking Breakfasts launched in February 2022 and are a key monthly event in the Scottish business calendar, taking place in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. They are open events where both members of WeDO and non-members are welcome. Offering a fantastic opportunity to spend a full hour networking, we alternate each month between an entrepreneurial speaker who will share their journey (including challenges faced – no rose tinted glasses overviews!) and topic based, where the speaker will share their expertise and tips on a specific subject. Places are limited to 50 to enable effective networking and are allocated on a first come first served basis. Please note that tickets must be booked in advance and will not be available on the door.

This month, we are delighted to be welcoming Gregor Lawson of Morph Costumes. Gregor is one of Scotland’s most characterful entrepreneurs and his story about the global phenomenon businesses he has co-founded is fantastic. He is a brilliant and entertaining speaker and he has plenty of entrepreneurial adventures and challenges to share.

Many entrepreneurs dream of finding a way to make a living that involves working with their friends to build a business founded on a common passion. That’s exactly what Gregor has done with childhood friends, brothers Ali and Fraser Smeaton. In 2009, a night out led to researching the fancy dress market with Morphsuits being created with an investment of £1,000 each.

In its first year the company sold 20,000 costumes with turnover of £1.2M. All three were still in ‘day jobs’ which resulted in a lot of 2am finishes with the first 200 costumes being shipped from their flat. Over the next 3 years they grew to £12M having taken investment from the Business Growth Fund which allowed them to expand globally and secure licenses for some of the biggest properties in the world such as Marvel and Power Rangers.

However, as a result of waning consumer demand for Morphsuits, low barriers to entry and a change to Facebooks algorithms, the business ran into tough times and their bank account ran down to the last £100k.

They made the decision to rebrand to MorphCostumes, expand their range into non-spandex costumes and re-focus to selling on Amazon. Nowadays MorphCostumes is a broad spectrum producer and retailer of over 1000 year-round fancy dress costumes and accessories having evolved from its roots as the originator of the iconic spandex Morphsuit.

Today the Company is back on track with £30M turnover, a team of 50 and is one of the leading digital retailers in its category with a proven track record of successful M&A. They also work with some of the biggest retailers in the world such as Walmart and Target.

Prior to co-founding MorphCostumes, Gregor worked in brand management for eight years. Graduating with a Business Studies degree from Edinburgh University, he joined Procter & Gamble in 2006, where he led marketing on Pantene, Pringles, and Gillette until 2010.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Anyone with an interest in business who is looking for an enjoyable networking event! Unlike many speaker events, there is a full hour allocated to networking.

TICKET PRICE

The ticket price of £21 + VAT for members and £26 + VAT for non-members. The ticket price includes tea/coffee and a bacon roll or yoghurt with berry compote and granola. Please select your choice when booking your ticket.

A VAT invoice will be issued once you have booked your ticket. Please note that ticket sales end at 12 noon on Wednesday 22nd March.

CANCELLATION POLICY

Tickets can be cancelled and refunded by emailing [email protected]. We regret that any tickets cancelled after 12 noon on Thursday 16th March will not be applicable for refunds for any reason. Tickets can be transferred to a different name until Tuesday 21st March at 5pm by emailing [email protected]

To be added to the mailing list for future Networking Breakfasts, please sign up below