LIFESTYLE fashion house Rupert and Buckley has re-located from the Home Counties to a farm in Worcestershire.

The company, run by entrepreneur and law student James Buckley-Thorp and aimed at the university campus market, has moved to a barn near Tenbury Wells.

“Despite the title of the brand, it is just me,” said Mr Buckley-Thorp.

“Buckley is my family name and Rupert is a boy’s name I would like to call my first boy, if I ever have one.

“I’ve been described as an eccentric workaholic who threw in the desire to become a family law barrister and I turned down my position at the London Bar School – the top Bar school in the country – to pursue Rupert and Buckley.

“I emptied all my savings accounts and spent all the money put aside for law school into the business and finding an investor.

“I have decided to relocate the lifestyle brand from Canterbury up to Tenbury Wells where my god-parents have helped me greatly with space.

“As every collection grows in size, the brand’s demand for extra space increases and I currently now fill one whole barn which used to house a tractor and one of their out-houses as a stockroom and dispatch hub employing my god-mother and whoever else is needed to help her complete the orders the brand gets.

“I do not design the clothing myself, I employ designers – who are usually British design students, and pair their designs with the factory connections that I have made.”

The brand’s image is based on a university campus collegiate theme where Rupert and Buckley is portrayed as a fictional college which has its own purple and yellow colour scheme. The company sponsors actual sports teams throughout the UK, as well as charities.

Rupert and Buckley recently launched its winter collection and has now secured its first retail outlet. “This is Marilyn’s in Market Street, Tenbury – our first official stockist,” said Mr Buckley-Thorp.