With the launch of the biggest ever Celtic Sheepskin catalogue one day away and on the month of the directors 20th anniversary...

...we set one of the best people to go undercover and tell us more about the infamous husband and wife team -their daughter!


Clare Whitworth is the loving daughter of Nick and Kath; the couple that co-founded Celtic Sheepskin 20 years ago to this month. Nick and Kath on the whole like to keep themselves to themselves, which is not much to ask really, not when you spend so many hours at work! However when Clare was challenged with the task of drafting a blog post, she - their devoted daughter - felt it was about time everyone learnt what makes her parents tick. I must add at this point that Nick and Kath also have a son Mike, who has very smartly stepped back from his sister’s mission!

So Clare, what can you tell us about Nick…

After obtaining three A levels in Economics, Geography and History, which when asked the results "were not good", Nick joined the RAF aged just 18. For nine years he worked as an aircraft engineer and ended up primarily on Nimrods. This took him to a posting at RAF St Mawgan, a couple of miles out from Newquay, and led to Nick falling in love with not only Cornwall but with Kath [ah, that’s words from their loving daughter, nice to see she includes those all important gushy details!].

Nick and Kath were later married and it happened that 5 months after their wedding Nick left the RAF. He then joined BT for almost three years and grew to love Cornwall [and Kath!] more and more. Nick only chose to leave BT when he saw an advertisement in the local paper selling a business called "Hide & Feet". This business became his own on the 20th August 1990, and today is known as the great Celtic Sheepskin Company Ltd.

Twenty years later Nick is no less hands-on with his now thriving business [tomorrow Nick and Kath are launching over 50 new knitwear pieces and approximately 14 new styles of sheepskin outerwear! Quite a feet from taking on a business that had only a few pairs of boots in its stock books!]. So on the rare day off that Nick takes (this summer he’s taken only 7 days in total), he practices his avid grow-your-own skills, recently converting the whole garden and proudly picking his produce [it sounds like Clare is often used as a taste tester for his vegetables!]. He does however ensure that one week every winter he hits the slopes to enjoy his passion for snowboarding. [We say; good for you Nick!]

And what about your mum…

Kath has always lived in Newquay and left school at 17 with O Levels and a commercial/secretarial course, wanting to go out and earn money. She started as a secretary and was soon trained up in telesales with Canon. For a couple of years Kath ran their office in Truro [proud daughter speaking again!].

At 19 she became an administrator in a local estate agents where she subsequently trained to become one of their main agents. This ended when Kath was 24 and expecting their first child, Mike. Whilst on her maternity leave, Kath set up a wholesale sandwich company alongside Nick, which they ran from 1990-1993 [yes, this was alongside Nick’s new business “Hide & Feet”, what a couple!]. In 1993 they sold this business to concentrate on the now Celtic Sheepskin and also a board bag manufacturing company. They ran the surfboard bag business from their garage, providing bags for big companies such as Rhino, Buffalo, Rappac, Second Skin and Gul. Well, when you live in a surfing town, it’s quite a natural to run a business that is based around surfing.

Just to add to her super woman CV [ah, there’s Clare’s adoring side coming out again!], they also ran a weekly holiday cottage, had rooms to let in their home to pay for major renovation works that were needed and looked after their now two children who at the time were both under the age of 3!

Just like Nick, Kath’s days off aren't a common occurrence, but when she does get some time to herself she enjoys getting out and about around the Cornish countryside and walking along the white sandy beaches with their new puppy Alfie. For more regular time-out activities, Kath also escapes to her weekly "Spinning" classes (5 a week!), and for those who haven’t heard of this sport, it’s a 45-minute indoor cycling class to music.

It's evident that the mixture of love for Cornwall and determination for success, this pair aren’t been afraid of hard work. Constantly adding bar jobs to their string of positions making themselves adaptable to the seasonal trends of Newquay.

Clearly there’s one very proud daughter out there! Well done Clare, and thank you!

For those who like to enjoy pictures with their stories, Clare has gathered a few together for us. Enjoy...