BUSINESS
NIGHT RIDER
Psyche boss Steve Cochrane says the
store is now part of the local fabric.
Tees fashion icon Steve
Cochrane puts booming
night-time trading in
Middlesbrough down to
Psyche’s continued success.
Tees Life co-editor Dave
Allan reports...
Middlesbrough Council chief executive Tony Parkinson joins
Psyche boss Steve Cochrane and staff during a special 35th
anniversary celebration in the Middlesbrough store.
P
syche owner Steve Cochrane
believes Middlesbrough’s booming
evening economy is boosting his
own award-winning store as it
celebrates 35 years at the heart of Teesside’s
retail and fashion offering.
Psyche is continuing its impressive
expansion with the launch of websites
focused on the USA, Australia and the
United Arab Emirates.
With annual sales at a record-breaking
£9m, Psyche offers an instore and online
shopping experience with well over 200
established brands and emerging designers
including Moncler, Dries Van Noten, Paul
Smith, Aquascutum and Armani.
But it is the entrepreneur’s steadfast
commitment to his hometown that has seen
the focus of Psyche’s ever-growing success
story remain focused on Middlesbrough’s
Linthorpe Road.
With plans to recruit eight new staff,
Psyche will soon employ nearly 100 local
people.
It’s all a far cry from the young punk
reject who opened his first small fashion
shop, Sliced Tomatoes, in Redcar in the early
1980s.
Having later opened his first Psyche store
in Middlesbrough, Cochrane then moved to
bigger things.
He recalls: “When I first said to the
council in 2002 that I wanted to convert
the old Uptons department store into
Middlesbrough’s version of Harvey Nichols
A special cake was made to celebrate
Psyche’s 35th anniversary.
they were quite sceptical that we would pull
it off.”
But that’s exactly what Cochrane did,
with Psyche twice winning the UK Retailer
of the Year Award, while the store’s national
reputation has helped it to a hat-trick of
Drapers Award successes.
Winners of the Drapers Independents
award in 2016, Psyche’s 180 designer brands
now includes a who’s who of the fashion
sector including Hugo Boss, Polo Ralph
Lauren, Remus Oumo, Kenzo, Belstaff, YMC
and many more.
“I think we’re now part of the fabric of the
region and particularly of the town,” reflects
Cochrane. “But I never expected in a million
years for it to become this big. It’s just grown
and grown and grown.
“It has evolved constantly and we’re still
expanding. Online’s phenomenal - we sell all
over the world.”
A new Durham store will
open within weeks, while
November will see the launch
of psychefashion.com as
the business targets the US
market, with similar online
projects focusing on Australia
and United Arab Emirates
early in 2018 before they trial
foreign language sites.
And he believes the town’s increasing
number of new restaurants and bars is
helping to drive forward his store on a local
level.
“Going back a few years everyone just
went to Yarm, but now Norton is doing so
well and Middlesbrough’s evening economy
is absolutely brilliant,” he said.
“There are new bars and restaurants
opening all the time which is adding to the
critical mass. If you want to go to a bar or for
something to eat in Middlesbrough you’re
spoilt for choice. There are some high quality
bars and restaurants in Middlesbrough now,
which is fantastic.
“I think people’s aspirations are higher
now but the more places there are to go then
the more people will go out, and the more
they go out then the knock-on effect is the
more smart clothes they need to wear, so it’s
self-supporting.”
47