One of Tom Kay’s favourite memories as a child is listening to the shipping forecast in his parents’ car, particularly during the unrelenting depths of winter.
It would conjure evocative images of storms, squalls and treacherous waters.
‘I’d imagine these boats miles off land in these huge seas. It was all quite romantic,’ says Kay, the founder of Finisterre, an outdoor clothing company based in Cornwall inspired by his enduring passion for the ocean.
Finisterre, meaning ‘end of the earth’ or ‘land’s end,’ was once one of the sea areas referenced by the shipping forecast and the romanticism that inspired Kay as a child continues to run through the company, from the brand’s earthy palette to the wistful images online of windswept beach walks, chilly sea dips and warming bonfires.
There is a timeless quality to the products, which range from pant-based wetsuits and cosy knitwear to insulated jackets, but they are not cheap.
You are talking over £200 for a coat and £100 plus for knitwear.
‘We stand by the price point as it is a reflection of everything that’s gone into making the product the right way, and we are very transparent about the supply chain, the factories we work with, the fabrics and so on,’ says Kay.
Plus, they are made to last. The hope is customers wear pieces time and time again, forging new memories each time they do, which creates an emotional connection to the clothing.
That way they are naturally more inclined to look after it.
The company also provides a Lived and Loved service to upcycle and recycle items, thereby helping to prolong their life.
It is the antithesis of fast, disposable fashion, but from the outset Kay was diligent about creating a brand that was about more than simply selling products.
It is why there are continued collaborations with the RNLI for instance (Kay has also been a volunteer at the St Agnes Lifeboat Station for 20 years) and he founded the Finisterre Foundation, which promotes equal access to the ocean.
‘I have always had this connection to the sea. It is something my parents instilled in us as kids and then, as a teenager, I discovered surfing [on holidays to Cornwall], which became my all,’ says Kay who grew up in north Norfolk and studied biology with a marine focus at the University of Bristol, so he was never far from the coast.
But then he moved to London to work as a chartered surveyor. It was a safe, grown-up job but one he ultimately found uninspiring.
‘I started thinking about how I could build something that would be wrapped up in my passions and beliefs that was needed and could do things differently,’ explains Kay who swapped city life for St Agnes, a village on Cornwall’s north coast, where he lived above a surf shop in the early noughties.
‘Back then, surf brands were all about bikinis and board shorts, but in the UK, where you can get waves as good as anywhere in the world, it's windy, it’s rainy, it's dark and you need products to keep you warm and dry, so that is why I started Finisterre. It was about making products in a better way in terms of sustainability, fabric and impact.’
The first product Kay designed was a windproof, waterproof, breathable fleece that was made in Devon and dropped down to him in batches. It was 2003, so no social media or sophisticated marketing, just a basic three-page website and plenty of phone calls.
‘There was a real quality to the product from day one and we started getting write-ups and coverage. Obviously, we’ve got bigger, there are more staff and shops, and we’ve got international audiences, but the spirit and ethos of the band is the same now as it was back then and I love that,’ he notes
But it’s had its challenges. ‘Starting anything is hard, especially when there is not much money, and you are trying to do something different amongst these booming surf brands. People didn't really understand sustainability back then, or what businesses should be doing beyond just selling products, so I suppose we were pioneers in that respect. And it has been hard work to make the numbers work at times, but when you have that belief in the brand and you get a good crew around you, and there is a shared passion, it’s very powerful. It carries you through the tough times and fuels you to keep on your journey,’ says Kay.
The company’s head office is still based in St Agnes, at Wheal Kitty, a former tin mine.
It is a location that provides plenty of inspiration.
‘Most days I walk once or twice around the clifftops and get into the sea wherever I can for a surf or swim, usually at Chapel Porth Beach. It keeps your feet on the ground and as a brand, we want to connect our customers and community to the sea, so it is about reminding ourselves of what is right on our doorstep and projecting that forward in what we do,’ says Kay, a father of three.
As a family, he and the kids enjoy driving down to the west of the county, ‘especially during the winter months as it’s pretty wild and remote down there.’
Another favourite activity is taking the scenic train journey between St Erth and St Ives and tucking into feast nights at Nancarrow’s working farm.
Otherwise, Kay keeps things local, grabbing a coffee at The Sorting Office café in St Agnes, or grabbing a pint at The Driftwood Spars or The Taphouse.
‘Although I wasn’t born here, I've had a relationship with Cornwall for a lot of my life and I'm lucky to be able to walk out the door and gain so much inspiration from the natural surroundings. It might be the patterns in the granite or the tin in the rocks, the gorse, the heather, the blues of the water, even the lobster pots and surf,’ says Kay.
‘It is so important to embrace the seasonality too, and to really test out our products in this rugged coastal setting because the brand is always evolving. Even after all this time, it can feel like we’re just getting going, which is exhausting and exciting.’
finisterre.com
