The Reality

2014, the dream of S&B is alive & kicking, we opened our doors to the World Wide Web and we sat and waited for our first order....and waited....and waited....whilst we waited we flicked through the brochure and ordered our luxury sports cars and got Limitless business credit cards. Neither has arrived yet so I continue to ride around in a Wotsit covered SUV with wet wipes in the door cards, a potty in the boot and a wallet full of loyalty cards that count for nothing.

In a time when companies are closing the high street at an alarming rate, yet directors still take huge profit shares, we are proud to be sat here in middle England without having to make any cuts on quality or staff. We continue to grow in these troubling times, this is a long game but in the short space we have been a part of your life we hope you have noticed the changes that bring us to this point.

What is your perception of S&B? Quite regular we get told, "Well you lads are doing alright for yourselves aren't you?!" Relatively speaking, yes, we both put food on the table, have a car and holidays etc. There is no S&B holiday villa Monaco or champagne parties, we pay our photographer in shirts for goodness sakes. Year on year we have seen growth and we can only hope for this to continue for many years, keeping Mike Ashley at bay whilst we submit planning for the helipad at HQ.

Unlike many high street retailers, we often work with family-owned manufactures. This helps us work efficiently so we can offer high-quality products without wholesale, which to you means we offer great quality and prices. Throughout January we have offered each customer £10 off any order if they use code January10. There's no sales ploy, this is not built into our costings, simply just a gift from us to you. In the hardest retail month of the year which Genius came up with the idea of that, this bearded hobbit did!

In the past we have sat on the fence and been diplomatic, but in truth, we want to divide opinion, this year we want to create a portion of products that some of you will hate, sounds crazy but, in turn, some of you will love them. We are sick of sitting on the sidelines, we may not be for everyone and that's fine.

In a world of wannabe influencers and vloggers where the bar is set so high, where is the reality amongst the smoke and mirrors? (Watch Fyre Festival on Netflix) You can make your own mind up.

Where have the standards gone, what's happened to the principles? We are all guilty of posting a humblebrag on social media, purchasing in a DFS style sale that is priced to be that price all year round or hating a public figure for their success. Both Brexit and Trump have created the biggest public divide in years, where will this leave us all in this political correctness world gone mad. (Watch Jonathon Pie: This Mockumentary is Louis Theroux meets Alan Partridge) We don't know but we all have to roll with it.

At the risk of sounding like your grandad, we've seen a lot in this industry and can see through most of the B*llsh*t. What makes you buy that branded high-end shirt, was it the high-quality fabric, the craftsmanship in the manufacture, the customer service you received, probably none of these. Ted Baker does not sit there and personally stitch each and every one of his shirts, they could be made from the same fabrics, in the same factory as a competitor. When you next go to an outlet and get that bargain just bear in mind it could have been made specifically for that price point and badged as high end.

Life is a roller coaster you've just got to ride it.