Interview:
Peter Tranter

Photos:
Reed Chillcheater

A chat with… Chris Reed
Celebrating 25 years of Reed

Many thanks, Chris and huge thanks to Jane Carley, for all your help and taking time out of what I know is a busy schedule – we appreciate it.
Before we start Chris, please tell our readers a little about yourself, your family, your background, etc.

My two brothers wanted to shoot me with their BSA air rifle and Gap Gun, so I had to make a protective leather outfit to run over the fields while they shot at me. It was important I made protective stuff right from the get-go.

I used to make my stuff as a kid, and my mum was a great influence as she always had a sewing machine out. Eventually, I thought I’d have a go at fashion, so I did a degree at Newcastle Poly back in the 80s. It was fashion design, marketing, and industry-based, not flouncing around doing pretty drawings and making lovely ball gowns. This was about proper industry, which was great. It’s where I got the basis of learning about textiles and the technical aspects of textiles, how they perform and how they cut great patterns, grades and sizes. I then worked in the industry for ten years – Marks and Sparks, C&A, Littlewoods, British Home Stores and other large High Street companies, and for people on the markets, banging out loads of basic but fancy stuff.

I then started my own business producing a special kind of textile suitable for kids on the beaches to stop them from burning or getting cold. I had a couple of my own by now, born in the early 90s, and I found that neoprene on the North Devon beaches wasn’t a very good option for young children. I developed the Aquatherm fabric, my special invention, and put a few separate items together to start with. I sold one or two a day, and then it got bigger and bigger. I started to produce more and more, added to the range, and moved into surf lifesaving and paddle sports. Eventually, the range grew to what it is today. As for me, I am lucky enough to live in the very beautiful North Devon with my partner Jane and Mr Socks the cat.

You began sea kayaking over 30 years ago and haven’t stopped since. What made you start?
I was a surfer, so surfing brought me to the ocean. It was just really pleasant when you started to move away from the ego-based sport of surfing into the gentle and kind bunch of people who were the sea kayakers, and I’ve never looked back since. They’re a really lovely bunch of people without big egos, and you can find the very best in the world kayaking with the newest people in the sport, and it’s always fun.

How does kayaking on the ocean give you particular satisfaction?
I love the vast, vast spaces of the ocean. Often, people ask if you’re a mountain or sea person. Well, I’m certainly a sea person. I love the fact that the horizons are endless, and there are no limits to where you are. I don’t feel at all afraid, even at depth. I think it’s great fun being out on the ocean – it’s like a playground on your doorstep, isn’t it? So fabulous.

What kayak and equipment are you using?
Over the last ten years, I’ve moved across to using Greenland paddles, the traditional sticks that look peculiar. They were constantly ridiculed, and very few people used them, but over the last four or five years, there have been many more enquiries. For many paddlers now, I think this is an important part of their arsenal, and once you get used to the versatility these paddles offer, you realise how much you’ve been missing out on just by using a traditional Euro Blade.

Alongside that, I paddle the Rebel kayaks as we deal with them. They are ideal for paddling day trips or weekend trips because they are not a great big heavy craft but very comfortable, easy, light, manoeuvrable, responsive kayaks. Of course, I wear my Reed gear! Cag decks tend to be my favourite, where you’ve got the deck and the cag all joined together, so you haven’t got much bulk around your waist. Also, the transpire fleece, which is a base layer fleece, all year round, summer or winter. I’m fortunate because I can always make and develop newer products for myself, but I use a cag deck most of the time.

So, you own Reed Chillcheater. What gave you the idea of manufacturing paddlesports and outdoor clothing?
Well, you kind of get pushed into this scenario. Often, you think that going for a volume market is the best thing, but we just decided over time that getting into a niche market and then into super niche markets is a much safer way of doing things.

We were making for anybody on the water to start with. Still, it quickly became noticeable that it was a much more receptive market for surface water paddle sports rather than the triathlon or surf market, which is in and under the water and much more brand-orientated. They want the Quiksilvers, the Billabongs and the O’Neill’s, the big surf brands, and it’s very difficult even to scratch the surface of those areas where these brands are super dominant.

We must be attentive to our customers and on the ball, so communicating is essential to what we do. We don’t get it right all the time, but we’ve got tens of thousands of customers now, and the office staff are great at keeping in touch with them and ensuring we can offer personal service.

What’s been your proudest achievement with Reed Chillcheater?
Keeping it British.  That’s the biggie, and we have done this and are celebrating 25 years this year. From small beginnings in the shed in the garden, the compressor in the scullery, and the office in the front room, we moved into a modest workshop, a slightly bigger unit, and two and three units. We’ve grown and kept the whole thing reasonably modest, but I think during the recessions and the pandemic, I’m proud that we’ve wholeheartedly used British sources for all our materials, trims, threads, and machinery. All our manufacturing is UK-based, and that’s a real achievement.

We are also fully sustainable. There are plenty of awards that you can chase and win out there, but I think the way that we see our sustainability and judge our eco-footprint is that we waste nothing, and our products and raw materials travel minimal distances. We know the provenance of our filaments, knitting, and coating – there is nothing from overseas: it is all UK-based, and we waste virtually nothing. Our electricity comes predominantly from solar panels and green sources, the factories are super insulated so we hardly have the heating on (that is partly because I am super mean and northern) and we are really careful about ensuring that despite the tempting idea of going overseas and having products produced for a quarter of the price, we’ve always stuck with what we do, and that’s my thing;  I want to make sure we stick with what we do.

So what’s the advantage of UK manufacturing?
We manufacture virtually all of our products in the UK; the advantage is control. We can produce one, 50 or 1,000, depending on the demand, and we can produce them almost immediately. One of the lesser-known areas that we manufacture for is the film industry. We have a prosthetic flesh-coloured Aquatherm fabric that we manufacture as skin suits or under suits or very tight dry suits for the film industry, so when you see heroines or villains in water scenes who look like they are wearing normal clothes, they have often got our flesh-coloured thermals underneath to keep them lovely and warm.

Examples of films we have worked on are the Harry Potter films, James Bond, and Game of Thrones, to name drop a few, and we are very well known throughout the film industry. The great thing about us being able to produce all of our fabrics and all of our products in-house is that we can turn completely bespoke items around within hours, so we often get films calling up in a blind panic and wanting ten sets of thermals for ‘A’ list actors which get sent out the same day, ‘jetting off’ to Pinewood, Warner Bros and locations all over the world.

Are there any little secrets in the Reed Chillcheater pipeline that you can tell us about?
We are constantly striving to maintain our quality, but there are always a few tweaks in terms of growing the range. The range is big enough; there are 140 styles over four or five colourways and seven sizes. That’s tens of thousands of different skews that we must try to ensure are in stock to keep our customers happy. We have recently been working on, and are about to launch, an adjustment to our Tuiliq, which is a Greenland-style garment. It is a deck and a cag with face and wrist closures that keep you pretty warm and dry when you’re rolling endlessly, and we have adapted the face closures with a neoprene fabric, so watch this space.

When preparing for long periods at sea in challenging conditions – what are the qualities you look for in a fellow sea kayaker?
I don’t do too many long periods at sea; I tend to stick within a mile or two of the shore. I think companionship is a good thing; you have to make sure you get on with the people you are out with! We support many expeditions, which are pretty lengthy, and with plenty of time when you’re away from civilisation, people always come back in and talk about how they have (or haven’t) got on with each other. Keeping it fun can be challenging, and I suppose you only test some of these traits when conditions are tricky, when conditions get bad, when storms kick up, or when you have to lockdown for a few days or weeks. Some people have been locked down in Iceland or other places for weeks, and that’s when I think friendships are tested.

Which are Reed’s most popular sellers?
Undoubtedly, the spray decks are what we are better known for, but customers also love our ankle, knee and thigh-length socks, which are great sellers. Of course, as soon as the winter comes and the cold weather kicks in, the base layer fleeces; our unique transpire fleece base layers are also absolute winners.

Do you have any favourite conditions for sea kayaking, or are you happy with whatever Mother Nature bowls your way on the day?
I love most conditions, and I feel confident now in my ability to cope in most situations. I’m not stupid; I think if the conditions are awful, like maybe a force five or six, and it’s blowing a hooley, I’d rather be in the pub or on my push bike or doing something on land. So let’s not get foolish, but I love a bit of everything.

What’s the most enjoyable encounter with wildlife that you’ve had?
I got hit on the head by a shag, and it shat all over my back when I was paddling an open crossing in the Outer Hebrides (is that enjoyable?) It came off the rocks and looked as if it was aiming directly at me, but it was probably aiming for the sea and didn’t have the option to divert. It just came straight down and bounced off the back of my head, crapping all over me and covering me in oily poop. Well, it made everyone laugh.

If you could capture just one ‘feel good’ moment in your time on the ocean – which would it be?
Those crystal-clear winter paddling days when you get the sunshine, the blue skies, the clear water, you know your gear is alright, and you’ve got a few friends around – these are the feel-good days I savour.

After all your years on the ocean, what still scares you on a paddle?
The packing, the preparation. I wonder if I’ve got the right stuff, but I guess once you’ve done it dozens or hundreds of times, you get better at it. I probably underpack and rely on luck, if anything! I don’t put too much stuff in, but I’ve never been caught out yet. There’s still a chance. Yep, here I am, admitting that packing for a trip scares me.

Any other types of paddling or sports interest you?
Yes. In the winter, when the weather’s rubbish in the UK and there’s not much light, I use an ocean-racing ski. Once or twice a week, I meet up with a group of friends and go out on the river from Barnstaple. We normally do about an hour or 10 kilometres and just keep our paddling fitness up. We have a good laugh and often end up in Spoons for a pint afterwards as well. Good times.

I’m a paddler and going on vacation; where would you recommend apart from your own backyard?
Well, I won’t give you my favourite destinations because you might visit them! But on the fringes of the season, when it’s still a bit miserable in the UK, I like to head south. The key places that are beautiful for kayaking are the Bay of Morbihan in France, the Deception Pass in America, around the Mediterranean, north of Barcelona around Palamos, and some of the Greek islands, which are fabulous.

What advice would you give your younger self?
Do the same again; it’s been brilliant. Apart from a few personal things that I would do differently, on a business front, I would just do the same again. It’s always tempting to go for the big bucks, but I have really enjoyed keeping under the radar. Not striving for the bigger things means you don’t get as wealthy, but it’s nice to have less stress.

What’s your favourite day-trip paddle?
My favourite ones are the ones closest to home with great mates because you don’t have to worry too much about logistics. The North Devon coast is a real gem; we’ve got some beautiful, committing paddles around here, and when you know all the put-ins and get-outs, where the most stunning wild beaches are to stop for a brew, it’s a winner. You can’t beat your own back yard really.

Do you have an ultimate achievement?
I would like to live a bit longer. I’m getting a bit older now, and I’d like to see some kind of transition for Reed from me being in charge. I don’t have a master plan yet, and I’m still enjoying it, which is great, but at some point, I’ve got to start thinking about a succession plan or moving it over to ensure continuity. Then I will have more freedom to travel more, and then I’ll get on my bike and cycle somewhere.

Where do you see yourself in 20 years?
With my current partner very much in love (Jane told me to say that)!

Um, in an old people’s home eating Spam and sucking on Werther’s Originals. Otherwise, I’d like to be like my mum; she is still body boarding at 86, dancing three nights a week and swimming every other day, so hopefully, those genes have rubbed off a bit. That would be nice.

What do you do in your leisure time?
Sport and being outdoors. Apart from Viz, I don’t read, but I would like to read more when the rest of me doesn’t work. I’m not discounting reading, but there’s too much other stuff to do. I am a member of the Croyde Surf Life Saving Club and train with them weekly. I cycle on my road bike, swim, play tennis, and enjoy growing some vegetables in our garden!

Quickfire questions:

If you could paddle with anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be?
My Dad. He would just love to have seen how good everything has got.

Pick two celebrities to be your parents.
Morecambe and Wise.

Which one sports person has inspired you?
When I was a boy, there was a football coach called Maurice Setters (Sheffield Wednesday) who had great, big, muscly legs. He told me a couple of things. He said don’t pick your nose and rub it in your eyes, and also do stuff every day to get big, strong legs. So I listened.

An ideal night out for you is?
It’s not really a night out now. It is more like an evening with loads of friends, lots of food, fun, joking and laughing.

What one luxury item would you take with you on a desert island?
A fishing rod. A gold fishing rod.

What’s in your fridge right now?
I got tons of fruit and veggies from mending a friend’s dog basket. It was massive – he’s a huge, slavering beast.

What would you prepare for us if we came to your house for dinner?
Squires Fish and Chips from Braunton – the very best in the UK. At home, I would make hummus dips with loads of garlic for starters, homemade pizzas for mains, and, of course, apple pie and custard for pudding! 

Who are your kayaking buddies?
Greenie (Paul Greenway), Chris Mitchell was but he’s in America now, Darren, other great mates from Devon, and Jane.

If you could be a wild animal – what would it be?
A vulture – they just float around on the thermals all day and  they can eat anything as they’ve got very strong stomach acid.

What would you do with £10 million?
Give most of it away, get a new push bike, and clear off.

Favourite sports personality?
I can’t choose.

Favourite team?
It was Sheffield Wednesday, but now it is the Croyde Masters Surf Life Saving Team.

What three words describes you?
Alive. Happy. Tasty (like an ice cream).

Finally, any final shoutouts?
To endless amounts of people who are just very kind and have been involved in helping in my life and business. But a huge shout out to the whole world of kayakers who I have been lucky enough to work with and get to know for the last 25 years. You are a truly great bunch of people.