Brothers George and Mike Heaton were once told their business was 'unprofitable'
The brothers started out selling their t-shirts which they printed in their dad's garden shed. Their motivation was to sell they would both wear themselves.
Today, it's not just George and Mike who wear their brand, it's loved by kids and adults across the country. The siblings, from Bolton, were at Runshaw College in Leyland, Lancashire when they managed to put aside £150 for their venture. The hugely popular label Represent was born and the pair went on to the University of Salford to study graphic design to further bolster their brand.
George said that it was really important to them that their designs were high end but still affordable from the outset. But he admitted that it wasn't always plain sailing. He said he was told in the early years that the vision was 'unprofitable' and that it would close down before it made money. He said: " the brand wasn't doing well,” George previously recalled to Steven Bartlett during his popular Diary of a CEO podcast.
“I got told it was unprofitable and I was just in this f****** rock bottom. "I think the best view of heaven is from hell, right? You've got to get to the bottom of that mountain to start reclimbing it. I think if you just sit around in the middle of somewhere and life just is what it is, that's what I was going through.
”: "I was 18 when we started this. We've always had that mindset to always be better, we nail it, and then we will always have bigger ambitions - the bigger you get the more you want. ” When, five years after they started printed in the shed, Justin Bieber chose to wear some of their clothing on his UK tour more celebrities followed.
But this visibility threw up another problem for the Heatons when they were threatened with legal action. George recalled: “I remember we got a letter from a company also called Represent in Europe basically telling us that we're done. They said that they owned the trademark in Europe. We couldn't carry on trading.
An agreement was eventually made after two years of legal battles, where they were able to buy the proper trademark for the name. In a bittersweet moment, the conclusion came during the pandemic - where online sales began to really take off. Having their line stocked in Getting stocked in Flannels, END and Selfridges helped to cement their astonishing growth. George said during lockdown the company took the opportunity to 'pivot' the business.
He said: “We were such a small brand then, but we decided to start launching consistent products. Everyone was at home looking at their phones and so we were doing that every week, and we got this huge snowball of customers when a lot of brands just couldn't do that consistently. ”A partnership with Oasis frontman Liam Gallager saw a capsule collection sell out in an hour.
And two years later Represent joined forces with the band to launch a collection for their much-hyped reunion and George realised a long-held dream. He said: “Growing up listening to this type of music, and growing up in the North of England, Oasis is legendary. It was always a pinnacle aspiration to work with them.
" Their decision to hire former Puma European sales director Paul Spencer to replace George as CEO saw sales continue to excel. And in November 2024, the brothers, who still run the operation from their hometown of Horwich, opened their first ever store in Manchester. There's now a 5,000 sq ft premises in London which opened last year to add to their bricks and mortar portfolio and a Reprensent boutique in Los Angeles.
Represent's performance wear division 247, which launched in 2020, has been another huge success story with a store dedicated to it on Bondi Beach. 247, which carries running shorts, tracksuits and vests. The sportswear line now accounts for 21 per cent of the brand's overall revenue with a 77 per cent rise year-to-date in 2025. Fitness is something George also implements into his lifestyle outside of work too.
In March, he completed the LA Marathon with an impressive time of two hours and 58 minutes. He says his routine reflects the same 'high performance' mantra and mindset that Represent has. For this, he also doubles up as a content creator and influencer for the 247 brand. At the end of 2024, Represent was announced to be on track for a record £100m turnover and was also named one the fastest-growing private companies in the UK.
Last month, Represent was included in the Sunday Times’ Rich List placing fourth on their 'Wealthiest Under 40 in the North West' with an estimated wealth of £185m. The company also came 27th on the national list. Represent has recently appointed former Adidas Yeezy executive Jim Anfuso to the role of North America President to spearhead its ambitious growth plans in the US, which will include retail expansion, wholesale partnerships, and further scaling of 247.
“Reminiscing on how far the company has come in such a short space of time, George says its been a whirlwind. “We’ve always believed in the brand and its potential, but did we ever imagine the brand would reach this scale when we were printing t-shirts from our dad’s shed? Probably not.
"But as we’ve grown, we’ve believed more and more in where we can take Represent and what we can offer our community. "
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