{"id":8532,"date":"2023-08-01T08:38:09","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T08:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/?p=8532"},"modified":"2023-08-01T08:38:09","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T08:38:09","slug":"martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales","title":{"rendered":"Martial arts clothing firm grappling with expansion after conquering Brexit and doubling sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manchester martial arts clothing brand Progress JJ has doubled sales in the last year to \u00a32.4 million.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Trafford Park firm, which specialises in stylish jiu jitsu sportswear kit, is a global hit – shipping to more than 75 countries.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jiu jitsu is the world\u2019s fastest growing martial art and celebrity fans include Tesla\u2019s Elon Musk and Facebook\u2019s Mark Zuckerberg and movie stars Tom Hardy and Henry Cavill.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Progress JJ celebrates its Manchester roots with kimonos and gi fighting jackets and trousers named after local landmarks such as the M6.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The fast-growing firm secured six-figure funding from the Northern Powerhouse last year to fund export growth.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Progress JJ came second last year in Brightpearl\u2019s <\/span>Lightning 50<\/span><\/a> league table of the UK\u2019s fastest growing ecommerce brands.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Founder and chief executive James Tighe, an intermediate purple belt fighter, talks about the success of Progress JJ <\/span>on Brightpearl\u2019s <\/span>Lightning 50 E-Commerce Growth Hacking Podcast<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tighe spotted a gap in the market for high quality jiu jitsu clothing and has worked with his father and nephew to grow the business.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThis is very much a family business, created after we all fell in love with the Brazilian jiu jitsu sport.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cOur dream was to one day quit our jobs and work on the brand full time, being involved with the jiu jitsu community, to help it grow as much as we could.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Fast forward to January 2021, we finally achieved our goal and launched the brand full time from our distribution centre at Trafford Park.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“We have not looked back since and have our amazing customers to thank for giving us the best job in the world.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>We take great pride in being from Manchester and the city’s culture and history influences a lot of our designs such as M6 kimonos and gi wear.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe add more value to the jiu jitsu community than we take out and our mission is to create the best products and projects that motivate and inspire all Jiu Jitsu athletes to Progress.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re growing at a really good rate at the minute, which obviously comes with problems and challenges, but we are getting on top of things now.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales have grown from \u00a3268,000 in the first full year to \u00a31.2 million in the second year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They doubled again to \u00a32.4 million in the last financial year which has just ended.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the next year, sales are expected to almost double again to \u00a34.5 million.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Progress JJ<\/span><\/a>, which supports the RAF’s jiu jitsu team and recently teamed up with Gymshark for a collaboration, has seven staff and is based at the Westbrook Trading Estate at Trafford Park.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A key part of its\u00a0 success has been introducing<\/span> Inventory Planner <\/span><\/a>stock planning software which has boosted profitability.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tighe, 41, said: \u201cInventory planner has helped us get much more accurate purchase invoices, so much less stock is being under and over sold.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt has really boosted our efficiency and profitability and ensured that we are not tying up cash. It has made sure that we always have available supplies of our best selling products.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tighe told the L50 podcast that Brexit had been a \u201cnightmare\u201d and the brand had been forced to open a warehouse<\/a> in Spain to serve its customers in the European Union.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next stop is America where the jiu jitsu market is 20 times the size of the UK.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jiu jitsu\u2019s huge popularity is due it being one of the main martial arts used by cage fighters in the UFC (Ultimate Fight Championship) bouts screened globally<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The sport hit the headlines this month when Mark Zuckerberg challenged fellow billionaire Elon Musk to a jiu jitsu cage fight.\u00a0 Both men regularly train in the sport.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jiu jitsu is a self-defence martial art based on grappling, ground fighting and submission holds.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tighe explained in the L50 podcast that lots of people are taking up jiu jitsu thanks to UFC.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He said: \u201cPeople have started really getting involved in watching and training in mixed martial arts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people don’t like boxing or getting punched or kicked in the face, so people naturally sort of gravitate to the sport which is a little bit less intense, which is jiu jitsu, a more gentle martial art.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s kind of like a combination of judo and wrestling, but you don’t really get hurt.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that’s why people love training. People start training in their 40s, 50s or even into their 60s. It’s not like a lot of other sports where it requires a lot of physical attributes – anyone can do it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

* Founder and chief executive James Tighe, an intermediate purple belt fighter, talks about the success of Progress JJ <\/span>on Brightpearl\u2019s <\/span>Lightning 50 E-Commerce Growth Hacking Podcast<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Manchester martial arts clothing brand Progress JJ has doubled sales in the last year to \u00a32.4 million.\u00a0 The Trafford Park firm, which specialises in stylish jiu jitsu sportswear kit, is a global hit – shipping to more than 75 countries.\u00a0 Jiu jitsu is the world\u2019s fastest growing martial art and celebrity fans include Tesla\u2019s Elon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":8533,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMartial arts clothing firm grappling with expansion after conquering Brexit and doubling sales - Brightpearl<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Manchester martial arts clothing brand Progress JJ has doubled sales in the last year to \u00a32.4 million.\u00a0 The Trafford Park firm, which specialises in\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Martial arts clothing firm grappling with expansion after conquering Brexit and doubling sales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Manchester martial arts clothing brand Progress JJ has doubled sales in the last year to \u00a32.4 million.\u00a0 The Trafford Park firm, which specialises in\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brightpearl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BrightpearlHQ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-01T08:38:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Progress-JJ-sportswear-002.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BrightpearlHQ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BrightpearlHQ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Hook\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/blog\\\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/blog\\\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales\",\"name\":\"Martial arts clothing firm grappling with expansion after conquering Brexit and doubling sales - Brightpearl\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/blog\\\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/blog\\\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/Progress-JJ-sportswear-002.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-01T08:38:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"Manchester martial arts clothing brand Progress JJ has doubled sales in the last year to \u00a32.4 million.\u00a0 The Trafford Park firm, which specialises in\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/blog\\\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/blog\\\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/blog\\\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/Progress-JJ-sportswear-002.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/Progress-JJ-sportswear-002.jpg\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"Progress JJ sportswear\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/blog\\\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Uncategorized\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/blog\\\/category\\\/uncategorized\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Martial arts clothing firm grappling with expansion after conquering Brexit and doubling sales\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Brightpearl\",\"description\":\"Retail-tailored Digital Operations Platform\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Brightpearl\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/cropped-favicon.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/cropped-favicon.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Brightpearl\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/BrightpearlHQ\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/BrightpearlHQ\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/brightpearl\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/brightpearldocs\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Martial arts clothing firm grappling with expansion after conquering Brexit and doubling sales - Brightpearl","description":"Manchester martial arts clothing brand Progress JJ has doubled sales in the last year to \u00a32.4 million.\u00a0 The Trafford Park firm, which specialises in","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Martial arts clothing firm grappling with expansion after conquering Brexit and doubling sales","og_description":"Manchester martial arts clothing brand Progress JJ has doubled sales in the last year to \u00a32.4 million.\u00a0 The Trafford Park firm, which specialises in","og_url":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales","og_site_name":"Brightpearl","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BrightpearlHQ","article_published_time":"2023-08-01T08:38:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1500,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Progress-JJ-sportswear-002.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@BrightpearlHQ","twitter_site":"@BrightpearlHQ","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Hook","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales","url":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales","name":"Martial arts clothing firm grappling with expansion after conquering Brexit and doubling sales - Brightpearl","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Progress-JJ-sportswear-002.jpg","datePublished":"2023-08-01T08:38:09+00:00","description":"Manchester martial arts clothing brand Progress JJ has doubled sales in the last year to \u00a32.4 million.\u00a0 The Trafford Park firm, which specialises in","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Progress-JJ-sportswear-002.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Progress-JJ-sportswear-002.jpg","width":1500,"height":1000,"caption":"Progress JJ sportswear"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/martial-arts-clothing-firm-grappling-with-expansion-after-conquering-brexit-and-doubling-sales#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Uncategorized","item":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/category\/uncategorized"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Martial arts clothing firm grappling with expansion after conquering Brexit and doubling sales"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/","name":"Brightpearl","description":"Retail-tailored Digital Operations Platform","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/#organization","name":"Brightpearl","url":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/cropped-favicon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/cropped-favicon.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Brightpearl"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BrightpearlHQ","https:\/\/x.com\/BrightpearlHQ","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/brightpearl\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/brightpearldocs"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}