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B Corp Fest 2025

Founder, Community Clothing | Sustainability Pioneer | Author of “LESS”

Patrick Grant has a lot to say about clothes; how many we buy, how we value them, what they’re made from, and importantly who made them and where. His campaigning clothes brand Community Clothing supports local clothing and textile manufacturers across the UK and Patrick is an outspoken advocate for radical change in the fashion industry. He is a regular on TV and Radio being best known for his role on the hit BBC series The Great British Sewing Bee. His new book LESS was published by Harper Collins in May 2024 and was an instant Sunday Times bestseller!

Patrick Grant has a lot to say about clothes; how many we buy, how we value them, what they’re made from, and importantly who made them and where. His campaigning clothes brand Community Clothing supports local clothing and textile manufacturers across the UK and Patrick is an outspoken advocate for radical change in the fashion and clothing industry, for moving beyond sustainable to circular and regenerative.

Patrick’s career in fashion has spanned almost two decades. In that time he has rebuilt the Savile Row tailor Norton & Sons, relaunched E. Tautz, for which he won Menswear Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards, and built the most successful designer collaboration in Debenham’s history with Hammond & Co. He has worked with some of the world’s best known brands including Cartier, Rolls Royce, Lotus, BMW, Mercedes, The Macallan, Chivas Regal, Barbour, Christian Louboutin, and Alexander McQueen.

Then in 2015 Patrick bought the ailing Blackburn clothing manufacturer Cookson & Clegg, saving the factory from closure. This got him thinking about the fate of the many other great UK textile and garment makers, many of which he knew well, and how to secure their future and the future prosperity of the communities that those businesses support. The result of this thinking was Community Clothing which was launched in 2016 and has since earned him widespread praise.

Patrick is a regular on TV and Radio, as a commentator and a documentary maker, but he is best known for his role on the hit BBC series The Great British Sewing Bee, which was nominated for a BAFTA in 2022. Patrick won Celebrity Mastermind and The Weakest Link, but didn’t do as well in Masterchef. He has written on diverse subjects for many titles including The Financial Times, The Times and GQ. He has written three books, Original Man, published in 2014, and released LESS (a Sunday Times bestseller) and The Savile Row Suit in May 2024 . Patrick has a degree in Materials Science from Leeds and an MBA from Oxford, an honorary Doctorate from Heriot Watt, an honorary Fellowship from UCLan, is an honorary Professor at Glasgow Caledonian, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2018 he gave a Ted Talk about the thinking behind Community Clothing. And he is an ambassador for The King’s Foundation, a charity which supports education activities for people of all ages across the UK.

Isabel McLennan is an Engagement Manager at B Lab UK, working to enhance the community experience for UK B Corps. She previously worked in the recertification and impact teams at B Lab UK, supporting companies through recertification and developing in-depth knowledge of what it means to be a B Corp.

Programme Manager, Boost Business Lancashire

Andrew returns as event facilitator, representing Boost’s support for sustainable business growth and B Corp certification across Lancashire.