Belstaff eyes stock market flotation after return to UK

Motorcycle jacket manufacturer Belstaff has relocated its operations back to Britain as it looks to highlight its heritage with an eye on a flotation.

Gavin Haig, who joined as chief executive from Swiss luxury goods giant Richemont in 2014, said Belstaff had transferred its finance offices from Switzerland to London and relocated its trademark back to the UK this month.

“This is beautifully in line with being a truly British brand,” he added.

Belstaff, advertised by David Beckham, began in Longton, Staffordshire, in 1924. It was bought in 2004 by the Malenotti family of Italy, who moved the brand into the luxury market.

The Malenottis sold the business in 2011 to JAB, the holding company of billionaire German industrialists the Reimann family, whose investments range from coffee maker Jacobs Douwe Egberts to shoe firm Jimmy Choo.