Kate Morris’ Glow Capital buys fashion-focused uniform maker Cargo Crew

When Felicity Rodgers reflects on building her custom uniform business Cargo Crew over the past 21 years, she uses a word that is not often associated with business: care. 

“Care about what you do,” she says when asked what advice she would share with other entrepreneurs.

“Care goes a long way; it is a strong word. If you care about what you do, at some point it will be recognised.”

For Rodgers and her co-founders, husband Paul Rodgers and sister Narelle Craig, that recognition has come in a big way this week.

The trio have inked a deal with Glow Capital Partners that will see the investment house acquire a 51% stake in the family-owned business that Rodgers started with a $2000 tax return after her burgeoning fashion label was approached by businesses that were looking for on-trend uniforms for staff.

It is the first investment for Glow Capital, which was established by Adore Beauty co-founder Kate Morris and former Quadrant Private Equity managing partner Justin Ryan in 2021, and has since amassed $55 million to invest in local brands via its first closed-end fund. 

The terms of the deal, the value of which has not been disclosed, will see Cargo Crew’s existing executive team retain full management control of the business, with three members of Glow Capital Partners – Ryan, Morris, and associate director Alex Downie – to join the Cargo Crew board of directors. 

“Do what you love”

Cargo Crew supplies customisable, on-trend uniforms to more than 16,000 customers annually, from online shoppers, florists and cafes, through to high-profile customers including Miele, the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, and even celebrity chef Curtis Stone. 

The company was founded in 2002, with the founders bootstrapping their way to building a business that is turning over more than $20 million annually and pioneering fashionable, yet functional, workplace uniform design. 

The business’ impressive growth was previously recognised in 2015 when it won the national Telstra Small Business Award, and it now employs a team of around 55 employees.

Speaking to SmartCompany, Rodgers describes the diversity of the Cargo Crew’s customer base as an “absolute strength” of the business, referencing clients across the retail, hospitality, events and corporate sectors. 

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The opportunity for Cargo Crew, and what Rodgers says Glow Capital will be integral to, is to “penetrate more deeply into the national market”, as well as build on its growing international appeal, says the co-founder.

Already, Cargo Crew has shipped its unique uniforms to more than 80 countries, and that arm of the business has grown organically, says Rodgers. The investment from Glow Capital means the business will have the resources to really scale those efforts, she says.

Working with Glow Capital feels like the “next natural step” for the business, says Rodgers, who hopes to inspire other Australian businesses with the Cargo Crew story; a story of bootstrapping a business over two decades by focusing on building quality foundations and keeping customer service at the heart of what it does.

“If you keep believing in what you’re doing, and do what you love, you really can build a successful business and take it global,” she says.

“We didn’t start this business for the money; we started the business based on something we loved to do, and that is creative design and serving customers.

For Rodgers and her team, their approach is to “do something different and do it well”.

“As a team, it’s about Cargo Crew now reaching its ultimate potential,” she says.