The Meander Group has announced an equity crowdfunding campaign. The sustainability-focused Scottish company that owns Meander Apparel and Tens Sunglasses said it has “aspirations of global expansion”.

It’s “inviting members of the public to become part owners of both brands that are on a mission to deliver premium quality clothing and sunglasses to a global customer base”. 

The campaign has only just launched on Crowdcube with a pre-money valuation of over £2.6 million and is now overfunding on the platform having exceeded its initial £125,000 target.

Co-founder Jill Henry said: “We are delighted that we’ve had lots of interest in our campaign and to have already surpassed our target. With that said, we would love to continue to overfund and reach our stretch funding goal as this will allow us to do so much more with both our brands at a much faster pace. We would love to add more products to the Meander and Tens collections as well as accelerating our digital growth, well beyond our Scottish shores”. 

Previously, Meander had attracted investment from industry insiders including Colin Temple of Schuh and tech entrepreneur Neil Norman. They continue to support the group and are leading the brand’s investment round.

The company, which focuses on sustainable outdoor clothing and lifestyle items has Meander Apparel has flagship stores in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, and London’s Seven Dials. 

Tens Sunglasses is an acquired brand that was previously backed by Virgin and the Branson family. The company had been selling the brand in its stores.

Tens specialises in lenses that emulate real life photo filters after being founded in 2014 by three friends and photographers who came up with the idea while on a road trip through the Scottish Highlands. The brand was created on the idea that “lenses in sunglasses don’t have to be dark and dull. All of Tens sunglasses feature filter lenses that drench the world in warm, cinematic tones, helping to lift the mood of the wearer by brightening their view”.  

So what will the group use the new investment cash for? It aims to “develop both the Meander and Tens product ranges as well as driving both brands forwards in the digital space in the UK and internationally”.

Co-founder Steve Henry said: “We’ve experienced a period of sustained success and growth in recent years, but we’ve only just scratched the surface. We aim to double down digital growth and introduce Meander and Tens to a wider audience in the UK as well as targeting overseas markets like the US and Europe. There’s huge potential for both our Meander and Tens to become globally recognised brands.” 

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has announced the integration of its UK, Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden operations into a single and expanded Northern Europe region led by Vincent Jean-Pierre as COO.

The company said the move reinforces its position “as a top city player focused on the best markets in Europe and the US”.

The newly combined region includes some of the group’s top-performing shopping centres – Westfield London and Stratford City in London, Westfield Mall of the Netherlands, and Westfield Mall of Scandinavia in Stockholm – as well as a “range of development opportunities” including Coppermaker Square and Croydon in London, and Amstelveen in the Netherlands. 

COO Vincent Jean-Pierre will be based in URW’s London office, supported by a regional management team located in London, Amsterdam and Stockholm.

URW chief executive Jean-Marie Tritant said that the creation of the expanded Northern Europe region “supports the continued optimisation of our operations to drive further growth and unlock value across our portfolio of the best assets in the top cities in Europe and the US. Vincent will bring his leadership, fresh perspective and diverse experience as we maximise the potential of both our standing assets and future developments”.

And the new COO added: “I’m thrilled to lead our newly established Northern Europe team. With our talented people, fantastic portfolio and development opportunities, we’re set to shape vibrant, sustainable destinations where communities and businesses thrive.”

He’s been with URW for 20 years and most recently led the group’s Offices and Mixed-Use Development division. In his new role he’s supported by an experienced Regional Management Team that includes Geoffrey Deshayes in Amsterdam as MD of Asset Management for the combined region in charge of managing the group’s standing assets and investment teams. 

Jacinta Rowsell in London is MD of Customer & Retail Operations overseeing Shopping Centre Management, Leasing and Marketing, as well as asset management of UK development projects. And Louise Haffenden, also in London, is MD of People. Meanwhile Samuel Renoux in Stockholm is CFO Northern Europe.

The appointment of Vincent follows the decision last year by former UK COO Scott Parsons to leave the business at the end of March this year. Tritant said he’d “like to offer my thanks to Scott, on behalf of the entire company, for his significant contribution to our UK business, which he leaves in a very strong position”.

‘Elevation’ has been a huge trend at all market levels in recent years and one example of this has been mass-market retailers naming high-profile designers as their creative chiefs. That could mean Zac Posen at Gap, Clare Waight Keller at Uniqlo and now… Jonathan Saunders at & Other Stories.

The H&M Group company on Thursday named the Scottish designer to the chief creative officer role. Coming just days after the unveiling of its latest collab (with Roksanda) it underlines a doubling down on the creativity focus and original designs that have long been a feature of the chain.

The retailer said that “creativity is at the core of & Other Stories, and this appointment reinforces the brand’s dedication to continuously evolving and strengthening the creative direction”.

The CCO role is “effective in the first half of 2025” with Saunders set to “lead & Other Stories’ overall creative direction, shaping how the brand evolves and expresses itself across all touchpoints”.

The brand’s MD, Lina Söderqvist said of this: “Jonathan brings a refined blend of creativity and passion to & Other Stories and will play a key role in taking the brand into the next phase. His engagement and creative leadership, combined with a deep understanding of contemporary fashion, will be instrumental as we move forward. We look forward to working with Jonathan as we continue to evolve, and I am delighted to welcome him to us.”

And Saunders added: “I think that thoughtful, expressive design that is also accessible, is powerful in this fast-evolving industry.”

Saunders certainly has an impressive track record and despite his British background (he trained at Glasgow School of Art and Central Saint Martins in London), much of his time has been spent in New York since the middle of the last decade. 

Since 2018 he’s been running his own Saunders Studio and agency. Before that he was creative consultant at Clavin Klein for just over two years. He’s also consulted for brands such as Tiffany & Co, Chloé, Louis Vuitton, Alexander McQueen, Pucci, and Marc Jacobs. He was creative director of Pollini and spent three-and-a-half years as chief creative officer at DVF (Diane von Furstenberg).

He’d founded his own Jonathan Saunders International label in 2004 and that ran for 12 years, winning a host of celebrity fans including Michelle Obama, Kate Middleton and then-British Prime Minister David Cameron‘s wife Samantha.