'An Outdoor Enthusiast'

Continuing his series, in which he describes his meeting with the many diverse characters who together make up the sports trade, Jack Lynes gets together with Nick Brown, creator and boss of Nikwax and Paramo, at his HQ in Wadhurst, East Sussex.

Returning home from meeting Nick Brown, I wondered how much his early upbringing had influenced his life, for it has been an extraordinary. At one stage when we were talking, he did say that he felt as if he was on the psychiatrist's couch, as I attempted to fathom what has made him what he is. Born in 1954, he was brought up in Kent, and was introduced to the delights of trekking in the Peaks with his Dad, via the YHA, from the age of ten. A modest man but unable to hide the fact that very early on in life he was considerably ahead of his peers, resulting in being eighteen months younger than others in his class. Added to this, he was exceptionally tall for his age, but his physical strength did not match up to his size, so he was largely left out when it came to sports participation. He would give the lie to that old supposition that one's school days are the happiest days of one's life, and he was less than happy at his Sevenoaks Prep, or later at the Sevenoaks Public School. It was routine that most upset the young Nick. He disliked the predictability of the time-table, the non-creative atmosphere, the restraints, the formality, the boxes in their places and the places in their boxes.

Maybe walking in the breeze, climbing hills, even getting drenched, is a release in such situations. Nick's trekking is far from restricted. Accompanied by son Luis, now fourteen years old, and daughter Andina, a year younger, even before they reached their teens, they had backpacked across the Himalayas.

At eighteen, Nick progressed to the University School of Oriental and African Studies, reading Social Anthropology in Linguistics. His tutor predicted that he would attain, Either a First or a Third, certainly nothing in-between, and it was almost with a sense of pride that Nick confirmed this to be correct. Even at this learning stage, he felt somewhat hemmed in by the restraints of what was expected, and aged twenty-one, he finished with a Third!

In addition to his native tongue, Nick can also converse in French, German, Spanish and Swahili. In the autumn of 1976 he decided to venture to the South of France to pick grapes, but drought turned to torrential rain, drowning his plans and leaving him unwell. New thoughts were called for, but he still harboured his low repetition tolerance. Since the age of sixteen, Nick walked in Scotland every year, and being dissatisfied with the dubbin products then available, he concoted his own recipe for preserving his boots. It was important to make them waterproof without softening them and losing their essential supportive features. The outcome of this concoction was to prove the beginning of a remarkable success story. His product, Nick's wax (hence the name Nikwax) was liked by several fellow walkers, and just as oak trees from little acorns grow, so Nikwax has become the biro of its field. First produced, Nick tells me, in a North London squat, in tins which he silk screened by hand, he sold to the outdoor trade, driving a second hand Morris 1000 van. Later, to economise, he bought an Inter Rail card and sold into Europe. Next he moved to a workshop in Clerkenwell in London and before he knew it, he was selling the product to eight countries.

Nick was not one to rest on his laurels though. Providing the wherewithal to preserve boots was to be the first step in making his mark as an entrepreneur in the world of the great outdoors. As a walker and outdoor enthusiast himself, he turned his imaginative mind to walkers apparel, which, as with the boots, needed to be kept waterproof, wind resistant and comfortable. It was around 1980, the beginning of green thinking and an awareness of what modern man was doing to the ozone layer. There were problems relating to aerosols. Even the new trigger sprays themselves contained solvents. Nick determined to find new, 'clean', ways to waterproof garments. In 1983 he caught up with a novel approach. Put the right solution into the washing machine, and the garment would not lose its waterproofing properties. Moreover, the fragile membranes/coatings, would not be damaged by constant abrasion, as had previously happened.

There was more to come. The range of Nikwax products grew to encompass systems for a multitude of uses. From ropes to tents, indeed, almost anything that needed regular help to maintain its resilience to water. But how about creating an actual garment for the outdoor enthusiast Nick was not one to look at what was there and then make subtle changes. Before creating a garment, it was going to be necessary to re-think the actual fabric, which the garment would be made. Nick's way to start afresh, and where more obvious for him to look, than to nature itself. What was good for the birds and animals, would surely point the way. And it came to pass that Nick observed and studied members of the animal kingdom to discover how they stayed dry and comfortable. Looking at their feathers and fur, he soon realised nature?s wise ways, whereby water is pumped away faster than it can be pushed in. He observed too, the manner in which trees draw water to great heights by 'wicking', helped by the evaporation of water from the leaves. And P?ramo was born. 'I had', says Nick, 'one of those brain-storming sessions that afflict people from time to time!' The one factor, leaving aside 'waterproofing' and 'breathability', which Nick was after, was comfort, an attribute well understood by everyone. Thus, learning from nature and adapting to man made materials, Nick created a 'direct' fabric, not simply waterproofing, or stopping water penetration, but actively pushing and pulling the liquid into the right place. He combined the fabric construction and means to repel water, in a textile which replicated a wet dog, shaking itself dry to assist it to be more comfortable. So, his Nikwax Analogy fabric concept mimics a mammal's fleece, actively directing wind, water and even still air to the right place.

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