A new company called PING Collection Europe Limited, established by Simon McGuigan, has signed a three-year licensing agreement with Karsten Manufacturing Ltd to manufacture and distribute PING Collection clothing throughout Europe.
Assuming the role of the new company’s managing director, Simon brings with him a wealth of knowledge of both the golf clothing industry and the PING Collection brand, having worked for PING Collection for the past 10 years, most recently as marketing & operations manager. He will be joined at the new company by the majority of existing staff including, designers, sales agents and customer service personnel.
PING Collection Europe Ltd is also privileged to have Simon’s father, Peter McGuigan as a director of the new company. Peter is one of the most experienced operators in the sports fashion business, having built his reputation at Reebok and Pentland before founding PMG International (which originally secured the PING Collection licence in 1999) and later becoming chief executive of Umbro.
“I would like to take this chance to thank Karsten Manufacturing Ltd for awarding us the license to distribute the PING Collection brand across Europe and look forward to forming a close relationship with them,” commented Simon McGuigan, managing director, PING Collection Europe Ltd.
“Having worked for the brand for the past nine years I am delighted to say that we will be retaining the services of key personnel from our time at Umbro. I believe that this continuity together with my knowledge of the brand and my father’s experience of the sports fashion business will put us in a fantastic position to build on the considerable success that PING Collection has achieved in recent years.”
“PING is delighted to establish this new relationship with PING Collection Europe, and especially pleased that it means continuity for the PING apparel brand and the experienced, dedicated team who have successfully built the business in Europe over the last few years. We are confident their continued focus on high quality product and service will deliver even more growth in the years to come” said John Solheim, chairman and CEO of PING.
The agreement was signed in time for PING Collection Europe Ltd to distribute its Autumn/Winter 2009 range.
The company will be relocating in June to new office premises within the Manchester area.
PING Collection www.pingcollection.co.uk