After 5 years at the helm, owners of Tiger Cardiff hang up their aprons

Kate Methuen-Ley, 42, and Helen Corsi-Cadmore, 37, business partners at Tiger Cardiff Ltd, the joint venture vehicle for Flying Tiger Copenhagen in Wales and Bristol City Centre, have sold their 50% share in the business to Danish parent company Zebra A/S for an undisclosed sum.

The pair signed the partnership with Zebra A/S in the autumn of 2013, opening their first store in St David’s Dewi Sant, Cardiff on the 1st December 2013.

They went on to open a total of 9 stores across South Wales and Bristol City centre, turning over £6.4 million in 2017.

Kate said:

“We’ve had a fantastic five years building the business from scratch and creating more than 100 jobs in the region. We’ve learnt so much and worked with some superb team members and suppliers, it’s been a hugely valuable and rewarding experience for Helen and I.”

Helen adds ‘We had grown the business as far as we could, opening stores in all the key locations where the business model would work. The Flying Tiger Copenhagen concept needs a steady flow of high footfall and now we’ve built the foundation in the region it’s the ideal time to hand the reigns back to the parent company.” Kate explained, “Zebra A/S owns the majority of regional partnerships in the UK and Ireland now. Whilst our senior team will remain the same, they will have strategic management from the team based in London who also manage the stores in the South East. The cost and process efficiencies will only strengthen the brands success in the area.”

So, what’s in store for the pair for the future?

“A bit of a rest after a whirlwind 5 years.” Helen explains “Not only did we set up the business, we both got married and moved house, I moved house 3 times!” Both women will look to use their skills and experience to add value to other businesses in the region. Kate added, “Whilst nothing is set in stone at the moment, we are both looking for the right opportunity to leverage what we’ve learnt.”

Flying Tiger Copenhagen traces its roots back to a stall at a flea market in Denmark where founder Lennart Lajboschitz sold umbrellas with his wife Suz. Then, in 1988, Lennart and Suz Lajboschitz opened their first brick-and-mortar store in a local neighbourhood of Copenhagen. Its name was Zebra, and it sold umbrellas, sunglasses, socks and surplus goods.

Now, 30 years later, Flying Tiger Copenhagen has 946 stores across 30 countries, with revenue surpassing 5 billion Danish Krone and nearly 6000 employees globally.