Andrew Wolfson buys minority stake in fast-growing Ro&Zo

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 7, 2022

Andrew Wolfson, younger brother of Next boss Simon Wolfson and founder of Pembroke Venture Capital Trust, is to announce that he’s bought a 20% stake in womenswear brand Ro&Zo for £1.5 million.

The Times reported that the businessman, who focuses on early-stage retailers and other entrepreneurs as CEO of £200 million trust Pembroke, is buying into a business founded only during the recent lockdowns.

It was launched by Rosie Bowden, Zoe de Abreu and Rachel Heather, who were co-workers at larger-sizes supplier Cover Up. 

Wolfson said they achieved more than £4 million in sales during their first year by selling online and via John Lewis concessions, with the brand now looking to open its first store.

Wolfson was also a backer of fast-growing Me+Em, selling his stake this year for a reported 16.1 times what he paid. His Bella Freud stake is also reported to be worth £6.7 million compared to the £3.5 million paid for it.

That said, he lost money on his Alexa Chung investment and on some other businesses.

“We will have failures and we are very transparent about our failures,” he told The Times. “It’s a great shame Alexa didn’t work out. It was a great concept with a great following. Unfortunately, it was targeting the wrong customer.”

Overall, Pembroke has stakes in 59 unlisted businesses and of the suggestion that some of the operations are vulnerable to changes in discretionary spending, he said: “We’re not seeing a huge downward turn in spend across our brands. Sales at Ro&Zo have not slowed down, indeed they are gearing up for [Christmas] parties.”