Tom Joule started British lifestyle brand Joules in 1989 designing colourful polo shirts. Throughout the years, Tom grew a customer base who appreciated the design and quality details in his clothing, and sold his products at country fairs across the UK.  But when the foot-and-mouth crisis struck in 2001, Tom lost his main selling platforms due to many of these fairs closing down and decided to diversify Joules into a mail order business, growing the product range and later opening his first shop in Market Harborough, next to his father’s café.

Joule brought innovation and modern edge into the rather traditional countryside clothing market and today, Joules is one of Britain’s most loved lifestyle brands, producing clothing, accessories and homewares.

There are some great lessons to be learnt from Tom’s business story and his ability to innovate and adapt to change. That’s why we were excited when Joules approached us to ask if we wanted to test something from the men’s range. We picked the Rainier mac coat and the Ewan jumper, and took them with us on a morning off in Edinburgh.

We decided that the best way to test the clothes, and see if they could help us outwit the weather, was to wear them on a hike up Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh’s own dormant volcano from where you you can enjoy breathtaking views of the city. If you have visited Scotland in January, you probably know that the weather isn’t too pleasant around this time of the year, but despite the wind and cold temperatures, the Rainier coat and the Ewan jumper managed to keep us warm and let us enjoy the city views!