A swimwear brand founded in Sydney in 1914 whose international business is based in Nottingham and owned by the Pentland Group.
Speedo makes swimwear and gear for swimming. Its range includes swimsuits for men, women and children, goggles (over 70 models), sportswear, footwear, towels and other accessories. It is famous for racing suits: the Fastskin suit (2000) had a textured surface inspired by sharkskin, and the LZR Racer (2008), developed with help from NASA wind-tunnel testing, was worn when Michael Phelps won eight golds in Beijing. FINA later banned that design. Speedo sponsors national swimming federations including British Swimming, and has worked with athletes including Adam Peaty.
The brand began in Sydney. Alexander MacRae, a Scottish emigrant, started a hosiery company there in the 1910s; swimwear was added in 1927, and a staff naming contest in 1928 produced the slogan "Speed on in your Speedos", which became the name. The company introduced the racerback suit in 1927 and moved to nylon in the 1950s. In 1971 it acquired the Nottingham textile maker Robert Shaw & Company, and the Pentland Group took over Speedo in 1990 and 1991. The pages we read gave no formal mission; Wikipedia only describes a focus on performance and style.
In the UK, Speedo International Limited is headquartered in Nottingham, and FashionUnited reported in 2018 that Speedo has been based in Nottingham since Pentland acquired it in 1990. That article said Pentland's headquarters at NG2 Business Park would become the main base for several of its brands, with about 200 people expected there plus 72 field-based or flexible roles. That 2018 figure is dated, so the current number may differ.
On people and culture, Pentland said in 2018 that grouping its brands would give staff wider career opportunities and that it was launching academies to build specialist skills. The global marketing director, Sean Hastings, said there was "great talent across the region". Wikipedia lists Chirag Patel as chief executive. We found no first-hand description of what it is like to work at Speedo, so the culture picture is thin and mostly parent-company information.
A swimwear business employs designers and fabric technologists, product developers who test fit and performance, sales and key-account managers who work with retailers, marketing and sponsorship staff who work with swimmers and federations, supply-chain and finance people, and customer teams. If you swim, or enjoy science and sport, Speedo is a good example of how research on water and fabric becomes a product people wear every day.
Website: www.speedo.com
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