My name is Richard Davies and I have well over a decade of creating, learning, succeeding, failing and picking myself back up again across sectors including Retail, Tech, Hospitality, Barbering, Tattooing, Coffee and more. I also have expansive knowledge of setting up businesses, running events, creating experiences and building brands.

What I am best known for is being the founder and director of Award Winning Brand Abandon Ship Apparel from March 2011 to August 2022. I built the business from a £300 investment to a turnover of £1.2million in 3 years, managed the business through a liquidation and rebuilt it from scratch again to become a sustainable and profitable business. I built the brand on transparency and a low-fi approach. We were known for both partying and giving a shit about social issues, creating a community around the brand and its ideals. During my time with the brand I was also responsible for multiple innovations which helped the business grow and continue to trade including taking our cut and sew products to new levels of quality and craziness, opening physical stores and pop ups, subscription boxes, preorders and stocking other brands to help position ourselves in a competitive market. Although I stepped away from the business in 2022 after achieving everything I felt I could I continue to create apparel through Disaster Inc and am known as a powerhouse within the UK apparel scene thanks to my experience and knowledge in the industry and the connections and friendships I have built.

Along with Abandon Ship Apparel I was also the Creative Director of Abandon Ship Bars and helped the team behind them launch 3 bars in Dundee, Glasgow and London before leaving. While I wasn’t in-charge of the day to day I was responsible for all things creative including the look and vibe of the bar, menu design, large scale murals and hosting events and nights at the venues. Beyond that I create continuously selling out merch for the bars, ran successful events across cities and built a lifestyle business which linked with the Apparel brand across social media platforms.

Beyond those two notable career highs I also opened and operated the barbershops Hard Grind. Creating the concept after seeing the rise in coffee shops in the UK and the decrease in High Street retail. The concept was to offer services, coffee and haircuts, that people could not get online with a strong focus on customer experience, and then offer retail as a secondary function. I utilised my previous experience within the barbering industry to help grow the businesses reputation along with award winning barbers to become one of the most recognised shops in the UK. I stepped away from the business shortly after launching an independent coffee shop called Daily Grind attached to the original barber shop and used what I had learned to open the first AS bar. I also opened a margarita bar called The Last Rodeo, based on Americana Dive Bar offerings in a bright and fun environment with a secret speakeasy style bar in the basement offering up elevated cocktails. I ran multiple smaller clothing lines over the years that explored different avenues of style and offering.

Most recently I was working as a full time consultant with Ceros and MarkUp in the tech sector, helping “supercharge” their creative and mentoring their team. I helped create a global commercial, “The Power of Creativity” live event and multiple smaller campaigns for the businesses.

Since 2016 I have also been an active artist, creating hundreds of pieces of art each year, mostly for my own projects but also for clients such as Pabst Blue Ribbon, See Me Scotland, Silverburn shopping Center, Awesome Merchandise, Jagermeister, Down the Hatch, Sailor Jerry and Ceros. This includes digital art like logos and merchandise but also large scale murals across the globe. I have become known for my unique and intense mural art style and have created unique pieces for numerous clients in public and private spaces.

Other accolades I am proud of during my career are creating a full Tarot deck over 3 years and releasing it with a companion guide, releasing a book based on people who had the slogan “Not Everything Sucks” tattooed on them and why, publishing a cookbook, working with a Mental Health charity to raise awareness, featuring in a national campaign about entrepreneurs, speaking at countless events, including an event hosted by Google, a tattoo apprenticeship, art directed and styled multiple fashion shoots and I have mentored countless team members of the years and seeing them flourish in their chosen fields.

Over the past decade I have gathered more experience than most will in a lifetime and believe in sharing that knowledge to help others realise their goals and better their business. Whether that is through brand development, business consultancy, art or just adding a bit of creative energy to something.