City profiles

Andrew Rees

“Countless fashion brands have been on a boom-tobust journey,” said Jim Armitage in The Sunday Times. “But few have gone from boom to bust to boom again like Crocs.” When the current CEO, Carlisle-raised Andrew Rees, took over in 2014, the US ugly shoe firm was “a profit warning-riddled basket case” on its (plastic) uppers. He has built it back to a $9bn company, selling more than 120 million pairs a year and striking deals with designers such as Balenciaga. Crocs is the ultimate “brand tension” shoe – like Marmite, “lovers and haters” enjoy arguing about the product. “If you wear these and she still goes out with you, she really loves you,” ran one internet meme. “Crocs – the world’s most efficient birth control,” went another. For Rees, it’s all grist to the mill.

Richard Branson

Sir Richard Branson has been celebrating the 40th birthday of his airline, Virgin Atlantic, in typical style, said The Daily Telegraph. He recently jumped “fully clothed into a swimming pool at a Las Vegas party”; Sin City is home to a Virgin hotel and casino. Branson is doubling down on his drive into “high-end leisure” by integrating Virgin’s hotel, cruise and airline operations more tightly. Helping him out is the Culture Club star Boy George, who, says Branson, makes “the most wonderful DJ” on Virgin Voyages cruises. “George and I go right back to the beginning,” he says. “I remember seeing him at the 100 Club in London”; he later signed the band to Virgin Records. These days, they’re a slick double-act. “We’re going to do all three cruise ships in about three or four days.”