BENJAMIN
A moment with talks too much ” despite getting good grades . Looking back , I never really applied myself at school ; I found it pretty easy to get good grades , and had I applied myself fully , I could have got exceptional grades . I am naturally creative and enjoy creative subjects the most , so English and Art and PE , because I love playing sports . My extracurricular activities mainly consisted of cricket ; I played so much that there wasn ’ t much time for anything else . I played on Saturdays and Sundays and trained on Tuesdays and Thursdays , and at times had a game on a Wednesday .
Who was your favourite teacher and why ?
That is a tough question . In school , maybe Mrs Sharpe from Winterbourne Primary School . I can ’ t remember exactly why , but she is one of the names that I seem to remember positively . My favourite teacher was outside of the classroom and was my Aunty Joy ; she taught me about spirituality and manifestation , things that we didn ’ t learn about in school .
If you could send a message to your younger self , what would it be ? company , Tom James , to the UAE market in 2012 . I then co-founded Benjamin Siggers , a bespoke tailoring company with sustainability at its core , in 2017 . But I always had the itch to get into school uniforms because they represented such a huge problem to solve , and I was on a mission to use fashion as a tool to fight the climate crisis . The pandemic was a blessing in disguise for my journey as an entrepreneur , as it closed the door on one business , which was a great learning experience and introduction to entrepreneurship but wasn ’ t my purpose , and opened the door for Kapes , which I truly believe is my purpose .,
What makes Kapes special ?
We are doing something that nobody else is doing . The products & services that we will be introducing soon will further differentiate us from any other school uniform provider in the world . We use sustainable materials for all of our products , we partner with ethically certified factories , we measure our impact , we offset this impact , we provide virtual workshops for students and eco-trips to Africa , and we provide free uniforms to children in need !
What would you like schools to know about what you have planned for Kapes now and in the future ?
Over the past 12 months , we ’ ve realised that there is a huge educational gap in schools , on how informed they are , about how impactful their uniforms are . In response to this , from September , we will be launching a School Uniforms Sustainability Accelerator to help schools move at pace through 4 stages of the sustainability journey to become fully immersed . Applications will be open from September to December , with the accelerator starting in January , and will be limited to a certain number of schools in EMEA .
We wish Mathew and the team at Kapes continuous success in raising awareness around sustainability .
Apply yourself fully in school !
What led you down the path of entrepreneurship ?
I had an Uncle who was an entrepreneur , and he influenced me . He had a Porsche , which was my favourite car , and at the age of 16 , I associated success with money and being an entrepreneur with having a Porsche , and I wanted one ! Now what I associate entrepreneurship with is entirely different . But outside of that , I think it stemmed from wanting to build something in my own vision , coupled with not liking authority figures , which was maybe a symptom of my very strict upbringing . I ’ ve always wanted to spread my wings and never felt fulfilled within a company .
Describe your journey as an entrepreneur thus far ?
It started as an intrapreneur , bringing the world ’ s largest custom clothing
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