We're going conkers for Autumn

With October round the corner, winter coats, scarves and gloves have started to emerge on the London streets in the early, crisp morning!

Many have a distaste for Autumn but at Attollo HQ we love it! Here’s why:

1.   Autumn wardrobes are arguably the best wardrobes - you can mix and match with different layers, textures and colours. New seasons have already emerged on the high street, making many of us pine for pay day! Although the quest to find that perfect winter coat is are a tough challenge, we love our autumnal wardrobes of blanket scarves, thick woolly jumpers, leather and wellington boots and beanie hats!

 

 Photos: The Londoner

2. The weather has moved from sunny, muggy and humid, to sunny, crispy, golden and amazing!

Photo: Pinterest

3. Food in the summer is undeniably great- during the summer, we’ve got into the habit of replacing roasts with BBQ’s. Now, BBQs are away and roasts are back! We’ve missed you, crispy, crunchy, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings! We’re not stopping at roasts; stews, jacket potatoes, curries and soups are back on the menu, with warm comfort eating puddings like apple crumble are back in our tums!

 Photo: The Londoner

4. Mornings – yes it’s a little darker at 7.00am than it was only a few weeks ago, but its crispy, sunny and the perfect trench coat + scarf + leather glove season!

Photos: Pinterest
 

5. Crunchy leaves that send you nostaligic at the sight and sound of them, reminiscing on childhood memories of running through a mountain of red, yellow and orange crispy leaves.



Photos: Gal Meets Glam

6. Tea is an excellent idea no matter the time or day or month or season or year. But with the temperatures dropping, there’s an extra tad of amazingness to every cup of tea!

Photos: Fortnum & Mason

7. Thanks to the amazing people behind the Rugby World Cup, Downton Abbey, Strictly Come Dancing, Lewis, the X Factor, nights in just got a lot better! You know it's Autumn when the TV guide turns really really good!



 

Photo: Google

8. Borough Market is one of our favourite places in London; hustle and bustle, local produce and mouth watering foodie eats, there's something for everyone. In Autumn, it's an extra special place with hot scrumptious food and hot, artisan nutty coffee!

Photos: The Londoner

9. Walks are wonderful, whether you're a city lover or country bumpkin, they are great! They are especially great in Autumn while we can enjoy sunny, spectacular days, with a crisp and chilly breeze! Going for a walk through London's Regent Park, with a hot cup of coffee, up to the summit of Primrose Hill and you'll get a spectacular view of London's autumnally-changing skyline!

Photo: Gal Meets Glam

  

10. A pumpkin spiced latte on a Sunday afternoon walking through the golden, leafy London parks is pretty wonderful. Autumn is the only season for PSL's and we love to make the most of them ahead of the Christmas drinks menu!



Essentially.....we have fall-en in love (get it?!) with Autumn here at Attollo HQ! Love A&F

Telegraph Festival of Business

We were very privileged to be invited to The Telegraph Festival of Business this morning at London's The Brewery.

Photo: The Brewery

Not only was the venue amazing, the breakfast and lunch spread was mouth waveringly delicious (we may have snuck home a few meals going extra..!), but the main highlight was the incredible speakers: 


Nigel Wilson, CEO Legal & General:

Nigel spoke about increasing the UKs economic productivity through 'slow moving', namely investment. Although we, as Geographers at heart, we didn't exactly agree with one of his answers- developing on the Greenbelt, we did agree that investment is key to improving our economy.

"We need to understand our customers better" 

There was also a great Einstein quote:

"The significant problems that we have created can not be solved at the level of thinking we were at when we created them."

Sir Charlie Mayfield, Chairman, John Lewis Partnerships:

We were then lucky enough to hear from Charlie Mayfield, who spoke of the benefits of employee ownership underlining that SMEs could benefit most from this.

"Work should be a vector for social mobility"

"Conduct, education & ownership, the CEO of the workplace"

The panel that followed included th founder of Brompton Bicyle, Will Butler- Adams and Julie Kenny of Pyronix. There was an interesting focus on education and how schools can do more to forge links between businesses and students, helping to inspire both parties and help students realise dreams of starting their own businesses.  The general concensus what that schools are too focused on league tables and are reluctant to make the time to bring businesses in to inspire students- let's not forget that some businesses are also 'too busy' to make the time to go and speak. Julie urged businesses to make time to create these links and also highlighted a flaw in our education system- OFSTED focuses on educational progress but not on student destinations and what the student wants to do. It doesn't make sure "children achieve their aims" in terms of a career- which would be a very good measure of sucess and we found rather thought provoking.

We were then lucky enough to hear from an amazing panel in a session titled 'Exporting to the world'.

Thea Green, Founder, NailsInc. :

Thea gave great advice about researching foreign markets- the best way being to spend time in the local area. Thea also advised brands newly exporting to be patient! 

"Patience is the key to expanding globally"

"The best thing about exporting is you get to start again in every country"

Reinvention in every market

Andrew Graham, CEO Graham & Brown:

Andrew highlighted the importance of employing local management as a means of gaining trust and a deeper understanding of the local market place and issues faced. He also underlined the importance of keeping your brand and it's roots strong in your home market- afterall, it's where your business was born for a reason!

"Think global, act local"

Angus Thirwell, Founding Director, Hotel Chocolat:

As well as gifting guests some amazing chocolate, Angus had some interesting export examples to share.  One problem any business faces is whether to enter a competitive market with proven demand or enter into a new market. Angus highlighted differentiation as key to entering a market with successfully established players.  Hotel Chocolat took a risk entering the competitive market of chocolate in Copenhagen, but their unconventional flagship store design and a seriously cool looking cocoa bean roastery, gained them fantastic press coverage and customers love it.

"Create a hub in a market that anchors the brand, then branch out"

Thank you very much to The Telegraph for what was a wonderful event, we look forward to returning next year.

Going back to where it all began- KCL Enterprise Connect

We are celebrating, as Innovation at our old university is back! We cannot be happier. Last week we had the honour of listening to Baroness Dido Harding and MBE Cath Kidston.

Photo: Baroness Dido Harding, MBE Cath Kidston, Enterprise Connect

Both inspired us so much we had ideas bubbling in overload while listening to them. 

The dynamic between the two was extraordinary - demonstrating that there is much to be learnt from business owners and CEO's of large corporations.

Brand Spotlight: TalkTalk

We were quite surprised to have found some common ground in TalkTalk's ethos' and our own, very much inspiring us.

Photo: TalkTalk

TalkTalk started with one powerful idea; 'free' - making things free for customers. It's no surprise then, that as a company it was born into chaos, as it was flooded with 200,000 customers within 6 days- not over its estimated 6 months. The TalkTalk inside joke is that it was a company acting like a teenage octopus, with fast growth and not able to control its limbs!

TalkTalk's starting point with anything new is the customer - they ask 'Why would our customers be pleased to be our customer?'

Photo: Enterprise Connect, KCL

The company is formed around their 'Bright Basics';

1. Customer - every company knows their customer can go elsewhere and only if the company continues to deliver will the customer remain loyal. TalkTalk have been nominated the worst company for customer services and won the Money Mail wooden spoon twice - Dido commented that this wooden spoon sits on her desk and spurs her on everyday. 

2. Innovate - why zig when the world zags? TalkTalk aims to approach things unconventionally and innovatively.

3. Value - our customers live on a budget so we must also. That means no big bonuses or first class travel for employees and ultimately lower charges for the customer.

4. People - be yourself at work, TalkTalk encourage individuality, which promotes diversity. 

5. Community - TalkTalk make decisions because they are right, not because they are profitable.

These philosophies are what we share with TalkTalk - it was a very big surprise that we share the same values as a big multi national in the telecoms sector.

1. We prioritise the customer - we are a company founded on the premise that customers are underserved by current lingerie brands and we, as customers, want to do something for ourselves and every other customer that shares our frustration and disappointment with bras on the high street.

2. We believe we buck all the trends - we zig when the lingerie industry zags - we are approaching our business from the opposite end to most people, and mixing up the design process to do it differently than all other competitors. Why follow what the industry is doing it wrong....?

3. Why would we complain about misleading advertising then mislead our customers with our advertising? All our campaigns will be shot with real women, ourselves included, and without any photoshop or photographic manipulation.

4. We want our company to be a place where everyone is themselves, a part of the family and loves the job and work they do daily. We get the honour of working on our dream job, we would love to give others their dream job, or something close to it.

5. We have always remained true to one premise - we are a business founded to solve a problem. We conduct our business first and foremost around solving this problem.

We then had the privilege of listening to an interview with Cath Kidston.

It was fascinating to hear how Cath created a huge, global business with no prior business knowledge or business education.



She started with the Yellow Pages and an explosion of ideas in her head that she was convinced customers would love.



She achieved her success by trusting her instincts, following her passionate enthusiasm for designs that were not available on the market and gaining the best and most experienced, trusted team.

As huge, huge Cath Kidston fans, it was an extraordinary experience to talk with her after the event!

We have always wanted to create a company where everyone that we employ adores working for Attollo.

It is one of our dreams to create a working environment that people adore and where they love working. Cath provided a wonderful insight into how to make this possible, and how to create a team that is loyal to the company ethos's and values.

Thank you not only to Cath and Dido for inspiring us and spurring us on, but also to our university for persistently engaging us with the most fantastic contacts that we have the privilege to be influenced by and learn from. 

Brand Spotlight: Bottoms up! The most beautiful, loveliest brand; Beautiful Bottoms

What beautiful bottoms we must say! Beautiful Bottoms is a brand we have had a crush on since pre-Attollo.

Photo: Lingerie Talk

Not only because it offers stunning designs and product shapes, but it accentuates feminine lines with its beautiful prints, materials and laces. All the delicate little details lingerie should offer.

Photo: Underlines Magazine

We adore their website and blog; both the simple, but elegant layout and the user friendly set up.

Photo: ANNA

But our favourite aspect of BB is its story; it is one we can relate to on many levels.

Photo: Misspull

It was founded by two best friends from The University of Newcastle. Two girls who didn't study to become fashion designers or business founders, but two friends who joined forces to bring a brand to the market that they saw and felt was missing.

Photo: City Girl Diaries

We have so much admiration for this pair of beautiful girls and when we look at their website, their stocklist, their designs, their blog and their story and we pray that someday Attollo will have a similar story and we can say 'We did it!', rather than saying we are doing it!

Photo: Noo Noos

The Dream Team

Meet Poppy Sexton-Wainwright and Lauren Skerritt.

Photo: Blake

 Photo: Blake

Photo: Blake

Their Products

 

In the Press 

They have featured in magazines from Vogue to Tatler to Glamour to Cosmopolitan to GQ and everywhere else in between. There aren't many places which haven't featured Beautiful Bottoms.

 

 

 

Thank you ladies for being a constant source of inspiration. We adore your brand more and more and are so excited to follow you as you re-brand to become Asceno.