PODCAST: Adam Dooley, Founder of Dooley & Rostron

Welcome to the latest episode of our Podcast series "In Conversation" where we bring you inspiring stories, retail insights and conversation from fashion's most influential business leaders. 

Adam Dooley learnt his trade at long established traditional menswear independent Robert Old in Bournemouth, a family run business founded in 1909. He started as a sales assistant and learnt the old way, eventually working his way up to become the buyer.

But manufacturing was always the direction he wanted to take and, spotting an opportunity along with investors to take over another long-standing menswear business, Frank Rostron Bespoke Shirtmakers on Princess Street in his native Manchester – a business that had been going since 1968, he took the plunge in 2007 and never looked back.

Having agreed terms on a new shop twice the size at 38 King Street in Manchester before the pandemic struck, and with a quarter of a million investment on a complete refit, Dooley opened his rebranded Dooley & Rostron store on April 12, the day of reopening for non-essential retail following Lockdown 3.

Selling made to measure suiting – of which mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham is a customer - and bespoke shirts – with a larger shirt factory on site and complete with a coffee shop on the ground floor,  Dooley says he had four record weeks since the opening.  Tom Bottomley, Contributing Editor of TheIndustry.fashion gets the story so far.

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