46. The Chapar

Founders: Joe and Sam Middleton
Founded: June 2012
Website: www.thechapar.com

Business doesn’t get much more personal than this father-son run, unique, shopping service. The Chapar is an e-commerce solution to the fashion conscious man’s hatred for shopping – filling a gap in the market that father Joe Middleton discovered after years of experience in the industry (Joe worked his way up to president for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Levi’s). Each client gets a team of stylists that cater outfits to the specific man’s taste, job, size and lifestyle; the clothing is then sent to the client, he chooses what to keep and the rest is returned for free.

Sam  emphasises that personalisation is their key USP; whereas most e-commerce solutions to people’s inability (or undesirability) to shop are geared towards the mass, The Chapar is for the individual man. Sam and Joe have ambitious expansion plans for the next 12 months; and with a projected turnover of over a million, brands like DIESEL, Ben Sherman and Kurt Geiger on board, and more than 2,000 customers already – it appears that their personal touch is working.