From Depop shop to high street giant: how I started a business through my DofE

A young man from Hereford with a natural flair for business has teamed up with high street giant Superdry after using his Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) to explore sustainable fashion.

Freddie Jones, 20, researched fast fashion as part of his course at Cheltenham College, where he learnt about the dark side of the industry and was particularly struck by the cost to the environment.

At the same time, being new to the sixth form, Freddie signed up to do his Gold DofE Award to meet new people. He decided to use his Skill section to find out how he could personally make a difference to the damage caused by fast fashion.

Discovering a love of vintage clothing – and learning about its sustainable qualities – Freddie began buying and re-selling secondhand clothes through the online platform Depop.

Freddie said: “Many teenagers use services like Vinted and Depop to make a bit of extra money, but doing it for my DofE kept me accountable – I put the hours in. I was studying for an A-Level in Business at the same time, and I used this knowledge to run my Depop page like a business from early on. I quickly gained a large following and that’s when I knew that it had the potential to be something even bigger.”

Freddie applied to go to university but narrowly missed out on the grades to get into Newcastle, so he decided to take a gap year and see how far he could take the business if he was able to run it full time.

Two months after leaving sixth form, in September 2022, 18-year-old Freddie had built up enough stock to open a shop in Old Market Shopping Centre in Hereford. It was so successful that by November he opened up a second shop in the centre of Cheltenham.

With rents on the high street rising, and ambitious to take the business further, Freddie was concerned that he couldn’t run the business the same way forever. At the end of the year, he took a chance and reached out to local businessman Julian Dunkerton, the co-founder of fashion giant Superdry, who was delighted to help and provided some advice.

Eventually, Freddie sold his shares in the company, jumping into the unknown. As he left the building after signing over his business, fate intervened: Freddie bumped into Julian, they got talking and from there, Freddie began Tribe Vintage in its current form, in collaboration with Superdry.

Julian Dunkerton, CEO of Superdry, said: “It’s my absolute privilege to be able to support the next generation of young British entrepreneurs.

“When Freddie contacted me in 2022, it was a no-brainer for me – there was a natural synergy between Freddie’s vision for upscaling his business and my ambition to make Superdry a leading sustainable fashion brand, and I’m extremely proud to have been able to lend my support and guidance to this extraordinary individual.

“Freddie is a person after my own heart – extremely creative, focused and hardworking, with a passion for sustainability and driving circularity within the fashion industry.”

Re-branded as Tribe Vintage, Freddie’s stock is now sold in five Superdry stores across England – in Birmingham, Oxford, Leeds, Manchester and Oxford Street, with a sixth due to open soon in Lakeside Shopping Centre.

Freddie said: “After I reached out to Julian, everything happened very quickly. When I started selling clothing on Depop, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that it would lead to a partnership with one of the biggest clothing brands in Britain. More than anything, collaborating with Superdry is an amazing way to get more vintage clothing on the high street – helping to mitigate the negative impact of the industry.

“When I didn’t get the grades to go to my dream university, I was unsure what my future would look like. I’m so pleased I’ve been able to find success – in part thanks to my DofE – without going down the traditional academic route.”

As well as being beneficial to his career, Freddie has also bonded with his family through the business. His Grandfather, a retired businessman himself, helped Freddie in the early stages as an accountant, and now that the business has become such a success, he still provides helpful advice and oversight, and he and Freddie have never been closer. Freddie even invited his Grandfather to accompany him to Buckingham Palace when he picked up his Gold DofE Award earlier this year, where the two of them met HRH Duke of Edinburgh himself.

Ruth Marvel OBE, CEO of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, said:

“It’s clear that Freddie has a natural talent for business, and it’s fantastic to see that his DofE has supported him to grow that passion further. Freddie’s story shows how varied the DofE journey can be for each young person – its your DofE, your way.

“Over 500,000 young people are currently working towards their DofE Award, and like Freddie, we hope it enables them to follow their unique interests whilst developing skills that will benefit them not only now but for many years to come.”