- – Our People – Impact Beyond Business
- — Our People – Sustainability
- A No Bull Podcast
- Accounting & Finance Expertise
- ACCOUNTING ADVISORY
- Advisory
- AIM LISTED COMPANIES
- AIM LISTED COMPANIES
- Alice Stephenson – Founder & CEO, Stephenson Law
- All News
- APPRENTICES
- April Bembridge – Chief People Officer, Cooper Parry
- Are You Claiming The Right Amount? Gated
- AUDIT – WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
- Audit and Assurance
- B CORP
- Bundle and Pricing Options
- Business Law
- BUSINESS SERVICES INSIGHTS
- BUSINESS STRUCTURING
- Business Support And Grants
- Business Tax
- CAPITAL ALLOWANCES
- CAPITAL GAINS TAX
- Careers – Our Roles
- Careers Contact Us
- Careers Trainees FAQs
- Charities
- CHARITIES
- COMMUNITY
- Construction
- Contact Thank You
- Contact Us
- COOKIE POLICY
- Cooper Parry Book Club
- Cooper Parry Event
- CORPORATE AUDIT
- Corporate Finance
- Corporate Finance – What Our Clients Say
- CORPORATE FINANCE DEALS
- Corporate Finance News & Insights
- Corporate Finance News & Insights
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Covid-19 Collaboration-news
- CP Deals
- CP Futures
- CP Innovation
- CP INNOVATION – WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
- CP INNOVATION FULL PAGE. – DRAFT
- CP Tech 100
- CPERS: COOPER PARRY ENQUIRY RESOLUTION SERVICE
- Creative Tax Reliefs
- CULTURE
- DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
- DIVERSITY POLICY
- EARLY CAREER PROGRAMMES
- Early Stage To SME- WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
- Ecommerce
- Eddie Latham & PJ Scott – Co-founders, Velocity Commerce
- EDUCATION
- EMPLOYMENT TAX
- ENVIRONMENT
- FAQS
- Financial Reporting
- Find Us
- Flexible ‘Finance Bench’
- Future Events
- Galahad Clark – Founder VivoBarefoot
- GLOBAL TALENT PROGRAMME
- GRADUATES
- HEALTHCARE INSIGHTS
- Helena Hills – Founder & CEO, TrueStart
- HIGH GROWTH LOW DOWN
- Homepage
- Homepage
- https://www.cooperparry.com/aim-audit
- Hub CP
- HUB CP – Live Lounge
- HUB CP – Live Lounge Velocity Snippets
- HUB CP – Rob Law Trunki Snippets
- Hub CP 3
- HUB CP LEADERSHIP SERIES
- HUB CP LOUNGE – PACT COFFEE
- HUB CP LOUNGE – PAUL SCHAFFER, PLUM PRODUCTS
- Hub CP Podcast
- HUB CP Thank You
- Hugo Tilmouth – Founder & CEO, The Up.co
- Impact Beyond Business
- Impact Beyond Business New template
- In Their Words
- In Their Words Retail
- INDIRECT TAX
- Inheritance Tax
- Intellectual Property & Patent Box
- INTERNATIONAL TAX
- Investment Calculator UK
- James Hyde – Founder & CEO, James and James
- Jay Richards & Cat Agostinho – Co-Founders, Imagen
- Justin Harling – CEO, CAE Technology Services
- LEGAL STUFF
- Let’s Stop Calling It R&D V2 Gated
- Life at cooper parry
- Lounge Underwear Webcast
- MAKING TAX DIGITAL
- Management Information and Reporting
- Manufacturing and Supply Chain
- Marketing Thank You
- MID MARKET – WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
- Mid-Market
- New Hub CP
- New Hub CP Live Lounge
- Newsletter Form
- Newsletter Thank You
- NFP Webcasts And More
- NOT FOR PROFIT
- Not For Profit Audit
- Operational Systems & Technology
- Our People
- Meet the Team
- Meet the Team Retail
- Our People – Big Business
- Our People – Board
- Our People – Business Tax
- Our People – Capital Allowances
- Our People – Corporate Finance
- Our People – CP Innovation
- Our People – Facilities & Wellbeing
- Our People – Law
- Our People – Leadership
- Our People – Marketing
- Our People – New Business Relationships
- Our People – Not for Profit
- Our People – Outsourcing
- Our People – Partners
- Our People – Pensions
- Our People – Personal Tax
- Our People – Service Charge
- Our People – Tech & High Growth
- Our People – Tech & Platforms
- Our People – Transaction Services
- Our People – Transaction Tax
- Our People – VAT
- Our People – Wealth
- Our People Audit
- Our People Team
- Our Why And Values
- Outsourcing
- OVERSEAS EXPANSION
- Past Events
- Paul Richardson – Executive Chairman, Gymshark
- Paul Turton – CEO, Pact Coffee
- Payroll
- PENSIONS AUDIT
- Personal Tax
- Personal Tax Compliance
- PLACEMENTS
- Preference Centre
- PRIVACY POLICY
- Private Equity Advisory
- PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
- PROPERTY
- PROPERTY AND LANDLORDS
- R&D Capital Allowances
- R&D Newsletter Thank You
- R&D Tax Credits Questionnaire: Are you eligible?
- Raise investment or debt
- Raising Finance
- Read All About It
- Rebelution 2
- Rebelution 2 Top Tips – Cooper Parry Corporate Finance
- Rebelution 2 Top Tips – Cooper Parry IT
- Rebelution 2 Top Tips – Cooper Parry Wealth
- Rebelution 2 Top Tips – CP Futures
- Rebelution 2 Top Tips – VAT & Brexit
- Research & Development Tax Credits
- Research And Development Tax Credits
- RESIDENCE & DOMICILE ADVICE
- Retail
- Retail Advisory
- Retail Tax
- Rob Law MBE – Founder, Trunki
- Scale Up & High Growth
- SECURITY POLICY
- Service Charge
- Service Charge Accounts
- Service Charge Snapshot
- Service Test
- SETTING UP BUSINESS IN THE UK
- SHARE INCENTIVES AND REWARD
- Share incentives: Annual Reporting
- SHAREHOLDER TAX ADVICE
- Shaun Doak – CEO, React Group Plc
- Small Business
- SNAPSHOT
- Succession Planning
- Supporting start ups
- SUSTAINABILITY
- SUSTAINABILITY ADVISORY
- SUSTAINABILITY ASSURANCE
- SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATION
- Sustainability News
- SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
- SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY
- Tax – What our clients say
- TAX COMPLIANCE SERVICES
- Tax Investigations
- Tax Services
- TAX SETTLEMENTS AND INVESTIGATIONS
- Tech & High Growth
- Tech & High Growth – What our clients say
- TEN STAGES TO INVESTMENT
- TEN STAGES TO SALE
- Test2
- This Is Us
- Tom and Tina Warner – Co-Founders, Warner’s Distillery
- TOPICAL TAX UPDATES
- Transaction Deals
- Transaction Services
- Transaction Services – What Our Clients Say
- TRANSACTION TAX
- TRANSFER PRICING
- Trusts and Estates
- UK SUBSIDIARIES OF OVERSEAS COMPANIES
- UK support for International groups
- VAT SERVICES
- Virtual Bookkeeping
- Virtual FD
- Wealth
- Wealth- What Our Clients Say
- Website How To Guide
- Welcome to the CP Family
- What our clients say
- WORK EXPERIENCE
- XCP Sign Up
- Your Development
- Your Say
- Your Say Contact Us
- – Our People – Impact Beyond Business
- — Our People – Sustainability
- A No Bull Podcast
- Accounting & Finance Expertise
- ACCOUNTING ADVISORY
- Advisory
- AIM LISTED COMPANIES
- AIM LISTED COMPANIES
- Alice Stephenson – Founder & CEO, Stephenson Law
- All News
- APPRENTICES
- April Bembridge – Chief People Officer, Cooper Parry
- Are You Claiming The Right Amount? Gated
- AUDIT – WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
- Audit and Assurance
- B CORP
- Bundle and Pricing Options
- Business Law
- BUSINESS SERVICES INSIGHTS
- BUSINESS STRUCTURING
- Business Support And Grants
- Business Tax
- CAPITAL ALLOWANCES
- CAPITAL GAINS TAX
- Careers – Our Roles
- Careers Contact Us
- Careers Trainees FAQs
- Charities
- CHARITIES
- COMMUNITY
- Construction
- Contact Thank You
- Contact Us
- COOKIE POLICY
- Cooper Parry Book Club
- Cooper Parry Event
- CORPORATE AUDIT
- Corporate Finance
- Corporate Finance – What Our Clients Say
- CORPORATE FINANCE DEALS
- Corporate Finance News & Insights
- Corporate Finance News & Insights
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Covid-19 Collaboration-news
- CP Deals
- CP Futures
- CP Innovation
- CP INNOVATION – WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
- CP INNOVATION FULL PAGE. – DRAFT
- CP Tech 100
- CPERS: COOPER PARRY ENQUIRY RESOLUTION SERVICE
- Creative Tax Reliefs
- CULTURE
- DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
- DIVERSITY POLICY
- EARLY CAREER PROGRAMMES
- Early Stage To SME- WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
- Ecommerce
- Eddie Latham & PJ Scott – Co-founders, Velocity Commerce
- EDUCATION
- EMPLOYMENT TAX
- ENVIRONMENT
- FAQS
- Financial Reporting
- Find Us
- Flexible ‘Finance Bench’
- Future Events
- Galahad Clark – Founder VivoBarefoot
- GLOBAL TALENT PROGRAMME
- GRADUATES
- HEALTHCARE INSIGHTS
- Helena Hills – Founder & CEO, TrueStart
- HIGH GROWTH LOW DOWN
- Homepage
- Homepage
- https://www.cooperparry.com/aim-audit
- Hub CP
- HUB CP – Live Lounge
- HUB CP – Live Lounge Velocity Snippets
- HUB CP – Rob Law Trunki Snippets
- Hub CP 3
- HUB CP LEADERSHIP SERIES
- HUB CP LOUNGE – PACT COFFEE
- HUB CP LOUNGE – PAUL SCHAFFER, PLUM PRODUCTS
- Hub CP Podcast
- HUB CP Thank You
- Hugo Tilmouth – Founder & CEO, The Up.co
- Impact Beyond Business
- Impact Beyond Business New template
- In Their Words
- In Their Words Retail
- INDIRECT TAX
- Inheritance Tax
- Intellectual Property & Patent Box
- INTERNATIONAL TAX
- Investment Calculator UK
- James Hyde – Founder & CEO, James and James
- Jay Richards & Cat Agostinho – Co-Founders, Imagen
- Justin Harling – CEO, CAE Technology Services
- LEGAL STUFF
- Let’s Stop Calling It R&D V2 Gated
- Life at cooper parry
- Lounge Underwear Webcast
- MAKING TAX DIGITAL
- Management Information and Reporting
- Manufacturing and Supply Chain
- Marketing Thank You
- MID MARKET – WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
- Mid-Market
- New Hub CP
- New Hub CP Live Lounge
- Newsletter Form
- Newsletter Thank You
- NFP Webcasts And More
- NOT FOR PROFIT
- Not For Profit Audit
- Operational Systems & Technology
- Our People
- Meet the Team
- Meet the Team Retail
- Our People – Big Business
- Our People – Board
- Our People – Business Tax
- Our People – Capital Allowances
- Our People – Corporate Finance
- Our People – CP Innovation
- Our People – Facilities & Wellbeing
- Our People – Law
- Our People – Leadership
- Our People – Marketing
- Our People – New Business Relationships
- Our People – Not for Profit
- Our People – Outsourcing
- Our People – Partners
- Our People – Pensions
- Our People – Personal Tax
- Our People – Service Charge
- Our People – Tech & High Growth
- Our People – Tech & Platforms
- Our People – Transaction Services
- Our People – Transaction Tax
- Our People – VAT
- Our People – Wealth
- Our People Audit
- Our People Team
- Our Why And Values
- Outsourcing
- OVERSEAS EXPANSION
- Past Events
- Paul Richardson – Executive Chairman, Gymshark
- Paul Turton – CEO, Pact Coffee
- Payroll
- PENSIONS AUDIT
- Personal Tax
- Personal Tax Compliance
- PLACEMENTS
- Preference Centre
- PRIVACY POLICY
- Private Equity Advisory
- PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
- PROPERTY
- PROPERTY AND LANDLORDS
- R&D Capital Allowances
- R&D Newsletter Thank You
- R&D Tax Credits Questionnaire: Are you eligible?
- Raise investment or debt
- Raising Finance
- Read All About It
- Rebelution 2
- Rebelution 2 Top Tips – Cooper Parry Corporate Finance
- Rebelution 2 Top Tips – Cooper Parry IT
- Rebelution 2 Top Tips – Cooper Parry Wealth
- Rebelution 2 Top Tips – CP Futures
- Rebelution 2 Top Tips – VAT & Brexit
- Research & Development Tax Credits
- Research And Development Tax Credits
- RESIDENCE & DOMICILE ADVICE
- Retail
- Retail Advisory
- Retail Tax
- Rob Law MBE – Founder, Trunki
- Scale Up & High Growth
- SECURITY POLICY
- Service Charge
- Service Charge Accounts
- Service Charge Snapshot
- Service Test
- SETTING UP BUSINESS IN THE UK
- SHARE INCENTIVES AND REWARD
- Share incentives: Annual Reporting
- SHAREHOLDER TAX ADVICE
- Shaun Doak – CEO, React Group Plc
- Small Business
- SNAPSHOT
- Succession Planning
- Supporting start ups
- SUSTAINABILITY
- SUSTAINABILITY ADVISORY
- SUSTAINABILITY ASSURANCE
- SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATION
- Sustainability News
- SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
- SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY
- Tax – What our clients say
- TAX COMPLIANCE SERVICES
- Tax Investigations
- Tax Services
- TAX SETTLEMENTS AND INVESTIGATIONS
- Tech & High Growth
- Tech & High Growth – What our clients say
- TEN STAGES TO INVESTMENT
- TEN STAGES TO SALE
- Test2
- This Is Us
- Tom and Tina Warner – Co-Founders, Warner’s Distillery
- TOPICAL TAX UPDATES
- Transaction Deals
- Transaction Services
- Transaction Services – What Our Clients Say
- TRANSACTION TAX
- TRANSFER PRICING
- Trusts and Estates
- UK SUBSIDIARIES OF OVERSEAS COMPANIES
- UK support for International groups
- VAT SERVICES
- Virtual Bookkeeping
- Virtual FD
- Wealth
- Wealth- What Our Clients Say
- Website How To Guide
- Welcome to the CP Family
- What our clients say
- WORK EXPERIENCE
- XCP Sign Up
- Your Development
- Your Say
- Your Say Contact Us
At Alton Towers there’s a ride called Rita. After queuing up, you strap yourself in and wait. The suspense builds as a giant clock counts down. BOOM! You’re off. You accelerate to 100kph in 2.5 seconds and a force of 4.7G pounds your cheeks into Play-Doh…
Lounge Underwear is the business equivalent of Rita. Its co-pilots, Brummie couple Dan and Mel Marsden, are rocketing along at stomach-churning, cheek-rippling speeds. But unlike the thrill-seekers at Alton Towers, these co-founders don’t know if their ride will slow down or get faster. Last year for example, things accelerated to an utterly deranged pace as the company grew by 250%. For perspective, during Black Friday 2020, Lounge Underwear despatched more than 150,000 orders, sometimes hitting 25 sales per second. With such stats it’s not surprising that the company was fifth in 2020’s Sunday Times Fast Track 100. Which makes it even wilder that Dan and Mel launched their business from their front room five years ago. Now it turns over £50m+, employs 120 staff and has recently moved to a 54,000sq-ft global HQ in Solihull.
During Black Friday 2020, Lounge Underwear despatched more than 150,000 orders, sometimes hitting 25 sales per second.
“There wasn’t a specific launch moment,” says Dan, who met his business partner and wife Mel at primary school – they were childhood sweethearts. “When Mel finished university, we started a company called Fashion-eyes and imported dresses from China to sell on eBay. We built Lounge from that – but we kind of built it backwards.”
He explains what he means: “It wasn’t like we had this amazing idea to build an underwear company. Instead, we knew we wanted to build a business and underwear happened to be the right product. We wanted something that would be cheap to import, brandable and easy to mail out. We also wanted something that would give large margins and be cheap to store. It had to meet all those criteria because we only had £1,000 to invest. Underwear was the perfect solution.”
Few people turn a £1,000 investment into a £50m+ Fast Track 100 Company in five years, so something special has happened. But what? “A key reason for Lounge’s success is that Dan and I are like yin and yang,” says Mel. “We tackle totally different sides of the business. I focus on marketing, customers and brand. Dan focuses on business strategy and growth. Our motivations and roles are very different but complementary – that’s a big reason for Lounge’s success.”
Let’s look at Mel’s influence first. She sets the brand values and controls the messaging. She does it so well that Lounge has built a community 2.3m Instagram followers. How has she achieved that? “In the early days, we used influencer marketing to great effect,” she says. “But more generally we talk to people like they’re our best friends and use a tone that creates an authentic connection. Customers feel like they’re having a chat with us; they come to our social feeds for a lift. We’re a group of women together and we try to make each other feel good.”
Mel describes Lounge Underwear’s followers as the “Female Family”. She crafts inclusive, uplifting, friendly posts. For example, under a Instagram picture of a model wearing Lounge Underwear and showing some tummy cellulite (an image that would be shunned by traditional underwear companies), she writes: “A little Monday reminder for you girls… every angle of you is beyond beautiful. Your body deserves comfort and love, always!” Another message says: “Size does not define beauty and you are gorgeous exactly as you are.” Indeed, Lounge Underwear works with amputee models, plus-size models and others you wouldn’t traditionally associate with lingerie. Differences are celebrated. Everyone is welcome except those who spread division and negativity.
We use our platform responsibly to reflect the real world. We are humans; we are all different. If we didn’t do that I’d be ashamed of our company and brand.
Mel says: “We use our platform responsibly to reflect the real world. We are humans; we are all different. If we didn’t do that I’d be ashamed of our company and brand. The old idea that you should look a certain way is the opposite of what we’re about. It sounds super-clichéd but our approach comes from a very real and genuine place. I run the Insta account and I feel like a hidden influencer. These are my personal values. I talk to young women in a way that I would talk to my daughter when she’s grown up [Dan and Mel recently had a baby girl].”
Behind Mel’s all-important branding and messaging, Dan steers the business financially and strategically – a task that’s akin to piloting the Millennium Falcon through a meteor storm at lightspeed.
“Scaling the business so quickly is full of challenges,” he says. “Few companies of our age have done it, so there are virtually no templates to follow. If we were growing by 10% year on year it would be easier to plan for. But because we’re young and expanding so fast, predicting how much stock to bring in and how many people to hire is extremely tricky. We could grow by 50%, 100% or 200% next year. They’re amazing problems to have but tough to solve.”
Furthermore, Lounge Underwear is not just growing in the UK, but also in Europe, the US and Australia. “We haven’t gone out of our way to target a particular area or country. It’s happening organically,” says Dan. “We don’t say: ‘I reckon Germany might work, let’s give it a go’. We say: ‘Germany’s growing naturally, so let’s put a strategy around it’.”
And of course there’s now far more to Lounge Underwear than two co-founders. At the time of writing (they’re hiring all the time) the company comprised a team of 120. Mel says, as Dan nods enthusiastically: “Our team are brilliant. We’ve all stayed closely connected during the pandemic. There’s a genuine family feel even though we’ve more than doubled our headcount in 12 months. It’s an amazing culture. The average age is 25 and we can’t wait to get back into the office to enjoy the energy and the vibe.”
The story of Lounge Underwear shows how far and fast a home start-up can grow organically, with zero outside investment. “Lots of companies get investors in early but that can kill the spark,” says Dave. “When you start adding a corporate culture it dampens your internal hype and excitement.”
Lounge Underwear’s stellar growth proves that with the right business model, the right team, the right branding, and the right conditions, it’s possible to accelerate at warp speed. This company may have started life in the co-founders’ sitting room but it’s already well on its way to becoming the biggest underwear brand in the world. So strap yourself in – Rita’s about to go again.

BE THE FIRST TO KNOW NEW BUSINESS UPDATES
Get expert advice delivered straight to your inbox.
BE THE FIRST TO GET EXCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS
