A PAIR of brothers quit their gardening jobs to focus on a side hustle, which now brings in more than £330,000 a year.
The Buckinghamshire lads decided to put the tools down for good and pursued their love for fashion – starting their own label in 2020.
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The idea was spurred when Josh and Arran Stewart were both laid off from their garden surveyors jobs due to the pandemic.
Not long after, the Illicit Bloc clothing brand was born.
Josh told Business Insider: “We’ve always dreamed about having our own brand.”
Two years later, after the boys made solid connections with factories and parcel companies their brand gained traction.
Josh said: “It got to Wednesday and we had that Sunday feeling where we felt we had to go back to work and leave what’s actually important to us.”
It was at that moment the Brit brothers took the plunge and quit their jobs for good.
Josh said: “Our love for art, design, and fashion pushed us to make the jump to full-time.
“It involved driving 1,000 miles some weeks.”
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Josh, 30, and Arran, 27, make up the company’s total workforce.
They work side by side as co-directors and creative designers.
They use four specialist factories in the UK to create the designer garments.
And now, as a brand they produce hoodies, sweatshirts, zippers, joggers and shorts.
They started the company with just £2,000 and by the end of last year sales brought in about £330,000 in profit, it was reported.
However, Arran said it was never about making fast cash.
He said: “I know it sounds cheesy, but we’re not doing it for the money.
“It’s taken a bit longer for us to get a bit more momentum.
“But this was always the dream – to get out of bed and not dread work.”
