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Charles Owen: "The truth can be really boring!" · Shut Up and Ride

• 0:12
  Speaker A: Welcome to the Shut up and Ride podcast. I always dread the countdown. So when we record, we have like a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And I have no idea what Ben's gonna do. And it's normally pretty like he's normally gonna take the mick out of me, but he's just laughing at me today, just laughing at my face.
• 0:27
  Speaker B: We have Ben and Simi on the pod.
• 0:29
  Speaker A: Hi, boys.
• 0:31
  Speaker C: Hi, Jenny.
• 0:32
  Speaker A: Hello.
• 0:32
  Speaker D: We're on best behaviour today.
• 0:34
  Speaker A: You are on best behaviour. We are. Because normally I would say on this podcast, sponsored, supported, kept going by the wonderful Charles Owen. But today we have Charles Owen on the podcast. We have.
• 0:47
  Speaker B: Oh, I love it.
• 0:48
  Speaker A: A woo from Jade.
• 0:49
  Speaker B: I thought everyone else was gonna join
• 0:50
  Speaker E: in on your own, as usual.
• 0:55
  Speaker A: We have. I'm gonna. Jade's official title. We have Jade, who is head of Product and Brand development. Very fancy title. And then we have. Dave is just CEO. And Dave has been on the show.
• 1:07
  Speaker B: He's done this before as well.
• 1:09
  Speaker A: So exactly how are you both? Welcome to the pod. Welcome back. Dave still with us? I think we're a year and a half in.
• 1:21
  Speaker E: I think. Yeah, it's coming up to 18 months. Yeah.
• 1:24
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 1:25
  Speaker E: But, yeah, I'm. Well, I won't speak for Jade, but I'm definitely.
• 1:29
  Speaker A: Well, Jade washed, apparently, for us, which I'm very excited about.
• 1:34
  Speaker E: Jade did her own hair. She coloured her own hair at the weekend.
• 1:40
  Speaker A: That's brave.
• 1:41
  Speaker B: Well, my hairdresser cancelled on me about an hour and a half before my appointment because she wasn't very well. So I thought, you know what, I'm going to save some money and go to the shop and just buy some bleach and see what happens.
• 1:52
  Speaker A: Oh, it looks amazing.
• 1:53
  Speaker D: Also.
• 1:54
  Speaker C: Is that just like standard bleach?
• 1:56
  Speaker B: Well, no, it's got a toner on it as well. So I watched a TikTok.
• 1:59
  Speaker A: I was gonna say Christmas.
• 2:00
  Speaker B: I got a TikTok on how to do my hair and just went with
• 2:05
  Speaker A: looks amazing.
• 2:06
  Speaker B: Thanks.
• 2:07
  Speaker A: It's probably amazing.
• 2:08
  Speaker E: Your hair could do with some bleached highlights.
• 2:11
  Speaker A: Who's. Whose hair? Simon's.
• 2:14
  Speaker E: Simon's.
• 2:15
  Speaker C: Do you know, I did when I was at about 16, I was like, oh, I really want to have bleached hair, because I can't. There was somebody that had. It had bleached hair that I thought was really cool.
• 2:23
  Speaker B: I bet you had frosted did tips, didn't you?
• 2:26
  Speaker C: Well, yeah, but I. I dyed it so it was like. So it was orange. I didn't get brave enough to do bleach.
• 2:32
  Speaker D: My brother did that was fully bleached. I've done no worse. I was bleach blonde in my wanting to look like Justin Bieber when he was bleach blonde era. And then I went full Human League and had half the hair long and bleached blonde with a diagonal shave, like, across the head, and the other half dark and short.
• 3:03
  Speaker E: It was great.
• 3:04
  Speaker C: That's really cool. Yes.
• 3:06
  Speaker D: Thank you, Simon.
• 3:07
  Speaker C: It is really cool. I mean, if you're into that kind of thing, that's really cool.
• 3:12
  Speaker A: I feel like all men do go through this kind of stage of, like, hair dyeing. My brother did as well, but his went orange and that was it for a long time. It's like, you're gonna have to have bright orange hair. It's just like. It's a stage.
• 3:25
  Speaker B: So he didn't need to go through that phase.
• 3:28
  Speaker D: I did fully shave my head to get rid of the blonde, which was good, because then I know if I ever start. If I ever need to be. Be a. Be a hair.
• 3:36
  Speaker E: A bald man.
• 3:38
  Speaker D: I was gonna say a hairless man,
• 3:39
  Speaker E: but that sounds a bit dodgy.
• 3:40
  Speaker D: If I could ever need to be a bald man, I can pull it off.
• 3:43
  Speaker C: It's going to be fine. I wanted to have. I wanted to have an eyebrow piercing because I thought that. Jenna, you'll remember who's. There was a guy called Drazic in, like, an Australian soap.
• 3:56
  Speaker B: Drastic Drazik.
• 3:58
  Speaker A: Is that Home and Away Dressik?
• 4:01
  Speaker C: No, it wasn't Home and Away. He was in something else. It was like Saved by the Bell, but obviously not because that's American.
• 4:07
  Speaker A: This is bringing back some memories.
• 4:09
  Speaker C: Oh, anyone, can you remember who. Who was it? He had an eyebrow piercing and I thought he was really cool. I wanted to be like him.
• 4:16
  Speaker A: I could imagine you with an eyebrow piercing, actually.
• 4:19
  Speaker C: Yeah. I don't think my mother could.
• 4:21
  Speaker B: No, I don't think your mum would take that at all.
• 4:26
  Speaker C: She, like. That is a no from me. Simon, grieve.
• 4:29
  Speaker A: And did you drop in that. Dave? Were you once. Because you are obviously now a silver fox. Were you once. Did you have a touch of the Jonge, the African sunset? Did Jade just drop in there?
• 4:42
  Speaker E: I've never actually heard that phrase before, so I don't know if she means I had red hair. I did have a hint of red, but not full ginger. Just.
• 4:53
  Speaker B: But not quite strawberry blonde.
• 4:55
  Speaker E: No, somewhere in between. Which I inherited from my lovely mother, who had a lovely head of red hair.
• 5:03
  Speaker A: See, my friend is like. And I say he's got a touch of the African sunset about him. I think it's a nice way of putting it.
• 5:10
  Speaker E: Yeah, I'll take that. I'll take that.
• 5:12
  Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not like that either. That is a really good. It is a really nice web of.
• 5:16
  Speaker A: Thank you very much. Occasionally I come out with things that aren't too obnoxious, but it's very rare. Then someone gave me a microphone. Yay. Right, so we've got you on because, A, we love you and for some reason you support us, which is very nice of you. Do you get nice feedback about us? Is it good for Charles Owen being associated with us three dickheads?
• 5:41
  Speaker C: No.
• 5:44
  Speaker E: Yeah.
• 5:45
  Speaker A: Let's have the honesty.
• 5:47
  Speaker E: Yeah. No, the feedback I get about the POD is that it's a great collaboration between us and you guys. A lot of people do say, how do you put up with the three of them? To which I say, well, I don't really speak to them that often, so that's the way I find that it works best. But no, the feedback generally is very, very good. People can understand exactly why we wanted to sponsor the podcast and they do very often comment on the fact that we were very early into it when we sponsored you. And they say for anything to flourish, that kind of support is invaluable. So people do recognize that.
• 6:26
  Speaker C: Yeah. And we do really like. In all seriousness, we really do appreciate it. The support you've given us has been amazing all the way through.
• 6:34
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 6:35
  Speaker B: And we want to see the pirate hat. Then we want more of the pirate hat that we made for you.
• 6:39
  Speaker D: More of the pirate hat.
• 6:42
  Speaker B: Get the pirate hat.
• 6:44
  Speaker A: Oh, he's gone. It's not long. He stays in one place. He's gone.
• 6:49
  Speaker B: I mean, to be fair, I don't think I've ever seen him like properly riding it or anything. So I think he should sit here for the duration of this record with it on.
• 6:58
  Speaker A: Oh, there we go. He's got a pirate hat on.
• 7:01
  Speaker D: There we go. I love my pirate hat.
• 7:04
  Speaker B: Is that like on the mantelpiece?
• 7:07
  Speaker D: It has prime position in the house. Yeah, absolutely.
• 7:14
  Speaker A: To be fair, when you. When wild is of an age and you start having kids parties and you're like, I can do pony parties for free. You are going to have to come out. That is going to get a lot of use.
• 7:26
  Speaker D: I want to see Simon go around a five star in it. I mean, technically it is a crash hat. It's fully specced up.
• 7:36
  Speaker B: Yeah. I think the judges at badminton would really appreciate that.
• 7:40
  Speaker C: So do I. I'm sure they would. I'd get at least 10 extra marks.
• 7:44
  Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. If you did your dressage in that, you'd win, mate.
• 7:47
  Speaker C: I mean, I'd be in front of Rod's canter by a mile. Despite the fact she was way in front of me yesterday and she did flying changes.
• 7:55
  Speaker B: She is a machine.
• 7:56
  Speaker C: I didn't.
• 7:58
  Speaker D: You didn't get bolted with across the arena like you?
• 8:01
  Speaker C: No, I didn't get bolted with across the arena, so it wasn't so bad.
• 8:05
  Speaker A: Um, yes, can we say your exciting news syaime that was announced this morning?
• 8:10
  Speaker C: Yes, exciting, exciting news. I've been accepted to go to badminton with, with Buster, my horse that did Burley last year. I am very excited slightly because I, before I was thinking, oh, you know, if I'm on the wait list and you know, I might not get in. And then I was all like, oh, this is really depressing. And then, and then another like, oh, no, you're, you're directly in.
• 8:32
  Speaker E: So.
• 8:33
  Speaker C: And I'm like, whoa, okay, that's gone from being like, oh no, that's really depressing to oh, that's really exciting. But also that's really scary. So, so yeah, it's a little bit of a mixture of emotions at the moment, but I am very, very, very privileged to be able to go and hopefully go and do that if he stays sound and everything goes according but we both stay sound and everything goes according to plan. So it's always a real privilege to be able to compete at that level and to go somewhere like that is
• 8:57
  Speaker E: just special, beyond special.
• 9:00
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 9:01
  Speaker C: Fabulous.
• 9:01
  Speaker E: Well done.
• 9:02
  Speaker A: So I, I've got a commentate present at the World cup finals in a couple of weeks and I'm already like nervous, big deal, blah, blah, blah. And that's nowhere as big a deal as riding around badminton. But when do nerves start kicking in? Thought like, do you get like, or is it anxiety, nerve? What, what's the process coming up to it?
• 9:23
  Speaker C: Because I, I, I'm, I've had, I've had different kind of processes in my brain over the years. Like so like the build up to Burley last year, I was just, I was just really looking forward to it. Just in general, I was really looking forward to going. I didn't get super nervous per se. Every so often I was like, oh God, there's a bit of apprehension but like, but I just was looking forward to it, wanted to go and have a great time and I feel that this is probably going to be the same that I'm just really looking forward to going. And like I say it's such an honor and a privilege to be able to compete at that level. And I know how hard it is to get to that level now and how easy it is to not be able to get to that level, if that makes sense. As in things can go wrong so easily so you've got to enjoy it when you are there. So I think going on past experience that I will be. The nerves won't be too horrendous and they won't kick in until a lot close to the time probably on cross country day. But like, but not till later on. Like I say I was, I was so looking forward to it too early last time that the nerves kind of took a bit of a backseat. Whereas before in the past I've spent the whole winter going, oh my God, I'm doing Babington in May. And was this about it? Is this a bad idea? This might be a bad idea. Oh, I don't know whether I should be doing it or is the horse capable? Oh, is what's going to go wrong and stressing about it and actually it's a waste of energy and a waste of time.
• 10:48
  Speaker A: How will Buster find badders compared to Burley?
• 10:53
  Speaker C: Difficult. It's difficult to say. My. Well, I said to you guys at the, on the tour that it was great how he reacted to the crowd that were there. He kind of like rose to the occasion and seemed to enjoy it. Didn't. Wasn't a shrinking violet which I was a bit worried about because the crowd went so mad at Burley and it's such a. It's the biggest thing he's ever done and he, he rose to the occasion at the tour and he's now done two runs. He ran yesterday at Lincoln and he was super confident and seemed really to be really enjoying himself and we had lots of fun and which is the whole point and so I think hopefully he'll still be really confident and actually Birdie will have brought him on. I just feel sometimes when you do a five star for the first time you learn a lot about the horse the next time you do it because they might go around because they're really good and they're really good people and they want to try for you and then they might finish and go, do you know what? That actually scared the crap out of me. I didn't enjoy that. And then, and then the next time you go it's, it's not as good that that would be the kind of concern. But I don't think Touchwood, I don't think that's going to happen with him. Because he just is so cocksure and sure of himself.
• 12:10
  Speaker A: That's like riding Ben.
• 12:13
  Speaker B: Yeah, exactly 12 minutes.
• 12:19
  Speaker C: You remember Splash, don't you, Jenny? He did Babington and Burley twice. But I think that he did it because he was a good boy and I think I slightly scared him. And then after that, he wasn't quite the same horse again.
• 12:31
  Speaker A: Because he loves his show jumping, doesn't he?
• 12:33
  Speaker C: Like, yeah, he's superb, superb. But he just. He just lost his cross, his love across countries. Kind of lost it after that. And I think that's partly because he. It was such a massive thing. I think it's slightly unnerved him.
• 12:47
  Speaker A: I just don't know how you do it from a perspective of. And I don't know if you guys feel the same. Like, I competed, obviously, you're absolutely nowhere near Badminton. I. But I used to compete under my married name so people didn't know who I was. Now you're going around Badminton, probably the most famous you've ever been. And like, I saw your stories from Lincoln. Like loads of people are tagging you in stories and filming you and like, there is a level of celebrity that is now Simon Grieve.
• 13:17
  Speaker B: It is.
• 13:17
  Speaker A: It's true though, isn't it? Like, I just. I would find that terrifying, but I
• 13:23
  Speaker C: feel like, why, but why? Why do you find that terrifying? Because I take it as a massive. Like, it's just some more people on my team. Some more people.
• 13:31
  Speaker A: It's because you're really good at horse riding.
• 13:33
  Speaker C: I'm not, but they're like, they. Obviously there are going to be people out there that don't like me and people that don't think I'm good enough and people that maybe think that I shouldn't get that kind of attention. I don't know. I don't know.
• 13:44
  Speaker A: We've yet to find those people, Simon, and we'll set Jade on them if it happens.
• 13:49
  Speaker C: But that's fine. They can do whatever they want. But it. But I've got. The support is so wonderful and amazing and it's just great. It's just there are more people that want me to do well and. And behind me and. And if it goes wrong, then I've got more people to help build me back up again. I kind of look at it that way rather than it being. I've got so many people that I need to keep happy. Well, and I've spent all my riding life, life worrying about keeping people happy. Happy. There are. You know, I've always ridden for people I've ridden for hundreds of people now over the years, and I've spent an awful lot of that time stressing about keeping them happy and, oh, God, are they happy. Oh, my God. And then putting more pressure on myself and that never works. And more often than not, if they're. They're the sort that aren't going to support you, they're going to bugger off in the long run anyway, so what's the point worrying about it?
• 14:35
  Speaker A: So grown up.
• 14:37
  Speaker C: So grown up.
• 14:40
  Speaker A: It's true, though, isn't it? It is. It's just very wise of you.
• 14:44
  Speaker C: But I've not. Yeah, but I've not always thought like that. I've spent most of my riding lives stressing about what everyone else thinks. And of course there's a point. There's part of that, you know, I don't want to screw up if possible. But yeah. Anyway, we're talking a lot about me and we should be talking about Charles Owens.
• 14:57
  Speaker A: Sorry, I know, I just saw it. I'm very excited. But also. So, Dave and Jade, we. The podcast is going to badminton and being by the lake on the Thursday night. Make sure you tune in everyone and come and watch us and come and listen and come and see us. When you first rang us, Dave, and asked to be. And we chatted about being on board of the podcast, did you and Jade, did you guys ever. Like, this is crazy. Like, it's huge to be now going to badminton. Like, I didn't. Don't think I saw that in our future. And it's. Yeah, it's amazing.
• 15:28
  Speaker E: Well, just to. Just to correct you on something, it was just me. Jay didn't know anything about it. And then one. And then one day I went. I went into work and I said, so, Jade, I've done a thing.
• 15:40
  Speaker B: No, to be fair, you did send. No, you sent me a link to an episode and when I listen to this, I'll speak to you tomorrow.
• 15:46
  Speaker E: I did. That's right.
• 15:47
  Speaker D: Yeah.
• 15:47
  Speaker E: But by the time I spoke to her, I'd already done the thing. It was happening anyway. But no, I think we spoke about it at the time. I think Jenny, where I thought the potential was there for it to be as big as it is. Had I thought about the connection, the live connection with the audience at events like Badminton? No, I hadn't thought of that. But it's a fabulous bonus.
• 16:16
  Speaker A: It's just that, yeah, it blows my tiny mind a little bit.
• 16:19
  Speaker C: I just think it's going to be so cool. It's going to be so much fun and it's going to be like, there's going to be a big crowd there and we're just going to have a great time.
• 16:28
  Speaker B: And Ben's going to show off merchandise as well. Simon, they're super fam. Just ready.
• 16:34
  Speaker C: Yeah, exactly.
• 16:38
  Speaker A: And also David, Jade, what you might not know is Ben has never been to a five star, so he. Him seeing what Simon has to jump is just going to be. We're going to put it on camera because he's never walked a five star course. Yeah.
• 16:54
  Speaker B: I was going to say, I'm feeling like a shop and ride podcast course walk.
• 16:59
  Speaker A: Yeah, it's going to happen. It's already in the process because.
• 17:02
  Speaker B: Love that I.
• 17:03
  Speaker A: Do you think you'll worry about Simon, Ben, once you've seen how big he's got to jump? Um, I mean, this in the.
• 17:11
  Speaker D: I mean this in a good way. This might come across wrong. I won't be worried because of the size of the fences. I'd be more worried from. Throughout the time we've done the podcast, when we turn, we meet together and he says, oh, before we start, guys, watch this video of another rotational fall. And you're like, are you okay? And he's like, yeah, yeah, it's fine, I'm fine. The horse is fine. We're all fine. Everything's great. Okay. Yeah, that's fine.
• 17:44
  Speaker C: You know, I was. I was talking to. I was talking to Sarah Bulimore, who is a sponsor writer of Charles Owen, and we were discussing about the changes that have gone on in Charles Owen, which we must talk about. And I said, oh, well, Jade has actually sent me three extra crash helmets.
• 18:05
  Speaker D: And she's like, why she sent you
• 18:06
  Speaker C: so many crash helmets? I was like, just because she knows that I fall off all the time, so she's just making sure that I'm safe.
• 18:13
  Speaker B: That is Simon's road to badminton. Three extra crash helmets.
• 18:17
  Speaker C: Hopefully that's that covered.
• 18:20
  Speaker A: I bloody love Sarah Bullemore, by the way. She is one of the. Just. I like. She's a lovely. I really like her. You've all gone.
• 18:28
  Speaker C: She's a very. She's a very kind soul. She's very kind soul. And she's. And she's. She's very good. She's very good at producing horses and she has some beautiful horses as well. And she's done some amazing breeding program that she's got and she's bred some fabulous horses.
• 18:46
  Speaker A: She is really nice.
• 18:48
  Speaker C: But we were talking about these changes. Do you mind if we talk about that, Jenny?
• 18:51
  Speaker A: Oh, no, that's Where I was literally, it's on my list. I've got a list. But also. Yeah, go for it. And Simon feels like you've got a question. I feel like you've got, like you're looking. He's got, he does his head tilt when he needs to know something.
• 19:04
  Speaker C: Well, yes, yeah, because I was talking to somebody else this morning about. Because. And I said I'm going to be doing a podcast today with Charles Owen and. And they said, oh, is that about them ceasing trading? And that is not what this is, Jade. What is the crown?
• 19:23
  Speaker B: Well, why have you come to me, Simon?
• 19:27
  Speaker E: No, I can give a potted chronology of what's happened and then we can maybe talk about where we are and what's to come further down the line. If that works.
• 19:40
  Speaker C: That sounds like an excellent option. Go for it, Dave.
• 19:42
  Speaker E: So here's the potted history. In October 2024, we sold the building that our factory was housed in and our office. And when we sold the building we managed to secure a 12 month lease. So obviously that was the time frame for us to then find alternative premises. So we started that process immediately because we knew 12 months was not a long time at all and we secured alternative premises and drew up all the plans to move. So everything going really well. Those new premises we were then moving into, there was a, we hit a bit of a roadblock with that. Those premises and the project itself. Now that didn't happen until a few months into the, into the process. We then suddenly realized that we were only having 12 months lease on the existing building meant we would tight for time to move. And as things progressed, I won't go into fine, fine detail for various reasons we, we got to the point where the new building wasn't going to happen and the old building we didn't have time to find somewhere else and our lease was running out and there was no way that there was going to be any substantial extension on that lease because the company who bought that building wanted it for the warehousing capabilities because they're a logistics company. So what they don't want is a cuckoo in the nest forever. So we found ourselves in the unfortunate position of not having a new building to go to and not being able to stay in our existing building. So we exhausted every possible opportunity to resolve that situation. But at the end of the day we weren't able to do it. So we had to make the unfortunate announcement that we were going to cease the trade in the, in the UK factory. Now that doesn't mean as as your friend said, that we're ceasing trade because we already had a very healthy manufacturing base out in the Far east, which is the one thing I think people didn't realize. And that's really where some of the misconceptions came about the closure and all being planned to move everything to China, etc. Etc. That was never the case at the time that it happened, but that's the reality of it. It's not anything more interesting than that. Sometimes the truth of a situation is actually quite mundane compared to the reality that people like to invent. And I wish I could make it sound like something it's not, but that's basically it. It's a very, very unforeseen property issue. And that's the message that we gave out in the public statement. But for some reason, some people didn't want to accept that. Many, many people were very, very sad about it, but also very supportive. And that's been the overwhelming sentiment around what's happened. Is it something we planned? Absolutely not. Is it something we wish we could have avoided 100%, but that we are where we are? I don't for one minute blame people like your friend Simon for saying they think we're ceasing trading, but this is a great opportunity for me to kind of put the record straight and say that that's not the case and just add a bit more context to what we've already put out there in the public domain.
• 23:47
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 23:47
  Speaker C: And going forward, Dave, what is. What is. Is there going to be any manufacturing in the UK going forward, or is. Are you going to continue? Has this actually worked out better this way? So you're going to continue like this or what's the kind of. What's the kind of goal going forward?
• 24:06
  Speaker E: So to get. To give that the proper answer, I'd probably. I'll go back a few years. So I've already mentioned that we already had a manufacturing base out in China. We started to make product in China in 2022 when we introduced one particular style of hat called the Kylo. And we did that in response to another manufacturer producing a hat which was all three global safety standards and exceptionally well made and at a very affordable price. So we thought we've got to kind of not ignore that, not necessarily jump fully on the bandwagon, but not ignore that and see if we can actually do the same. So we made this one hat, we started to sell that in May 2023, just in time for Badminton, and that one product within four or five months became our biggest selling product that we'd made for probably the last 20 years.
• 25:10
  Speaker A: Wow.
• 25:11
  Speaker E: A, because of the way it looked, B, because it had all the same safety standards as the products that we made in the uk and C, it was at that affordable price. And we're all very aware of the cost of living crisis and we're all very aware of how tight disposable income is in the equestrian world. The riders are always the last people to buy anything for themselves because they have to pay so much money on things for the horse. So to bring out an affordable, an entry level product with all the same safety standards with the Charles Owen heritage attached to it, it just took off. So we've had a very successful product from there and we introduced another one, a jockey skull as well into the range about 18 months after that. So I think going forward, Sam, to answer your question, I think at some point, somewhere in the distant future, we probably would have closed down the UK manufacturing anyway. The unfortunate property issue, we had just accelerated it, so we didn't choose to do it at the time that it happened. Is it good in the long run? Once we get over this next 12 months, 18 months of transition? I would probably say yes. And it is the way of the world, unfortunately. I know some of the die hard UK made Charles Owen supporters out there might find that comment a little bit harsh, but it, but it is the way of the world. Everything we use, everything we buy, there is an element of outsourcing involved in that, whether it be the whole product or the components within that product. So yes, I think beneficial long term is the right phrase, but it's unfortunate the way it came about. And let's not forget, in amongst all of this and at the center of this at the time is the fact that a significant number of people lost their jobs because of this and we need to be very mindful of that. It's all very well us saying the outsourced product is a great product, which it is, but ultimately the people who've lost out the most are the people who lost their jobs from the UK factory.
• 27:39
  Speaker A: I heard, obviously, because being with you guys, we got a lot of messages. Poor Jade. I was like, jade, how do I answer this? How do I answer this? How do I answer this? We got a lot of messages, but also a lot of theories as to what you'd done. One of them being they're just trying to avoid tax in some way or something else, or what's been the most stick you've had, like either Dave or Jade like, what's been the kind of the most entertaining response to it or the worst, or like some of the grief you guys have had.
• 28:08
  Speaker B: I think really kind of coming back to Dave's first comment around the support that we had, I think we really do need to shout that out because once that announcement made its way to social media and obviously when we put out the official statement, we were flooded with queries, questions. And the thing that stood out the absolute most, I was getting. Well, not me personally, but Charles Owen was getting messages of people from the width and breadth of the uk, offering up warehouses, space, you know, people what, what have you, saying how much they love the brand and how sorry they were to hear of the situation and really emphasize with what was going on. So I think first I need to shout that out because that, you know, it was an emotive time for everybody involved, internally and externally, but to hear end consumers say such wonderful things. And it did come from a mixture of, you know, I've had my Air 8 helmet for 20 years since it launched, and I absolutely love it, but I bought the new helmet and I like that too. And, you know, there was a real mixed bag. But fundamentally the, the love for the brand really did come out at that moment, if I'm honest. We've not really had that many negative ones come directly to us. There has been a lot of comments at the time that the post went out of some people not understanding the announcement and that kind of growing legs and like you say, the kind of tax or whatever questions came out of that, but directly to us is honestly been like 95% love and the 5% has just been kind of misunderstanding. So I think as a brand and as somebody who looks after the marketing within a brand, you know, I scare myself every time I log on to Instagram that I'm accidentally going to put a selfie on the Charles Owen Instagram page. So when, when I go onto that Charles Owen page after, you know, a busy day at work and you're absolutely exhausted, you just want to make sure that your scheduled post has gone out and you're getting messages from riders that have said that their helmet has fundamentally saved their life because of a bad accident that they've had, or they're really sorry to hear that, unfortunately they're not going to be made in the UK anymore, and then they send a picture of them wearing the helmet that was made abroad. It's lovely. It's really overwhelming. But, yeah, I don't think. I don't. Dave, I mean, correct me If I'm wrong, I personally and on the social pages, I don't think we've had anything as quite obscene as that.
• 30:48
  Speaker E: No, we did. We did have somebody saying it was a tax dodge. We had somebody else saying it was to. It was all a. A scam to benefit the director's pension pots.
• 31:00
  Speaker A: I did see something like that.
• 31:03
  Speaker B: The initial thing, though, wasn't it?
• 31:04
  Speaker E: Yeah. So, you know, it was along those lines. There was a lot of references to the previous owner of the business. So for those who don't know, the previous owner of the business was a. Was a gentleman called Roy Burek, who sadly passed away in 2019.
• 31:24
  Speaker A: That's when I met Roy.
• 31:26
  Speaker E: Yeah, that's when. That's when the business passed over to his son. There was a lot of sentiments around Roy and people saying, you, what would. What would Roy think of this? And, you know, I didn't have the pleasure of meeting Roy, so I can't comment on that, but I would. What I would say is it's a very, very different trading landscape now to when Roy built the business. Yeah, Roy was Mr. Safety Standards. You know, without Roy, there wouldn't be the safety there is within any brand of Hala. So, you know, the credit that Roy deserves is justified. But it's a very different trading landscape now. When he was building the brand, there was Charles Owen and there was Champion, and together Roy and John just grew the safety standards to where they are now and benefited commercially from it
• 32:23
  Speaker D: now.
• 32:24
  Speaker E: So you think about back then, there was two big brands and they sold every hat. Now there's 200 brands and we've all got a much smaller piece of the pie than we had. So there was a lot of comments around what would Roy say? And if he was still around, this wouldn't have happened. So there was a kind of a veiled kind of commentary on, you know, my stewardship of the business, if you like, which I. I understand people speculate and I understand people have a view. You know, some of my current contemporaries in other equestrian hat brands decided to go a little bit more public with that.
• 33:11
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 33:13
  Speaker E: And surprisingly, some of the people who we deal with supported the view. And obviously it was along the lines of, oh, if it was me, that would never have happened.
• 33:25
  Speaker A: The only thing I did see one of those posts. Sorry to interrupt. And I felt it was quite cowardly because they were. It was. It was a LinkedIn post and. And I felt it was quite cowardly because it was very obvious who they were talking about. It was very obvious the brand they Were talking about, yeah, you're going to be that obvious. Name names like, let's have it out. Whereas they were trying to hide through conjecture and putting it out in a. Yeah, I'm saying it, but I'm not saying it. I'm like, if you're going to do something and try and bring someone down and be vicious, just do it. Don't try and hide behind something. And fancy words that you've clearly written on chat gtp, like, if you're going to say it, just say it. Like, that's what I felt like. Sorry.
• 34:10
  Speaker E: That kind of speculation and that kind of opportunistic comment. It's inevitable. I'm not saying I didn't expect it. It's done for commercial advantage. Would I have done something similar? Maybe not similar. I'd have thought of something else a bit more sophisticated. But, you know, to those people who have made a comment as ill informed as it is, you know, I just say one thing to them. You know, I would have loved to have seen any of those people work in Charles Owen for one day during 2025 and see how they would have coped with the adversity that we had to deal with. I think the team at Charles Owen, the ones that have sadly gone and the ones that have remained, acted impeccably. And we wouldn't still have the brand if it wasn't for those people who actually got through it during last year because it was a horrendous year for everybody involved.
• 35:17
  Speaker A: Ben, I think you were muted then as you tried to say something.
• 35:22
  Speaker D: I was just gonna say, I find it very, very funny of people being outraged at buying products that will now be made in China while typing on a phone or a computer that was definitely made in China.
• 35:36
  Speaker A: It's a very good point.
• 35:38
  Speaker D: It's like, I'm outraged. I don't want a hat from China as I type this on my iPhone.
• 35:44
  Speaker C: Come on.
• 35:48
  Speaker D: At the end of the day, does this actually change anything for the consumer on a. I go to my local tack shop to buy a Charles Owen hat. Is my experience any different now?
• 36:01
  Speaker B: No. And you know, every single point of making a helmet, whether it is assembled abroad or, you know, our factory, when we had it, you know, we would develop prototypes of new helmets, we would test them in house on our test rig. We would then go, yeah, perfect, get that helmet made, send it to the test house in the uk, get it approved, get it with us, get the batches, test them again. You know, there's so many, so many things that I think you know, are hard to try and get across to the public as to what actually goes on behind the doors, you know, or behind the screen of helmet development and body protection development. That it's not just picking from a model and it being tested out there and it's not safe or anything like that.
• 36:47
  Speaker A: We thought you were just giving them to Simon, waiting for him to fall
• 36:49
  Speaker B: off and oh yeah, that works. Two brain cells this week, that'll do. No, there is absolutely so much that goes into it and that's why we've kind of started. When we came back from Christmas, me and my bright ideas, I was like, let's start doing some myth busters. And my poor core team like Laura Blesser every Friday has to kind of bring that idea to life to put on social media. And some of them have been quite hard hitting and a little bit, what's the word, Dave? Like a little bit risky in some ways about, you know, a helmet made in China isn't as safe as a helmet made in the uk. Dial fits aren't as safe as helmets with removable or fixed headbands, etc. So every Friday we've been putting these out to try and, you know, not just our brand, but helmets in general, what they kind of go through behind the doors, behind the scenes before, during and after development. And you know, Dave made reference to the Kylo helmet being our bestseller and outperforming some of the helmets that we've had on our books for 20 years. You know, that that is a big number to hit in such a small period of time. And when you've got that amount of helmets that people are buying because the need is there. You know, why are we ever going to make something that's not as safe as what we've already got out there? We're only going to try and make it safer. You know, standards on helmets are tested to such a degree that tries to mimic falls that could possibly happen to a rider. You know, they look at crush, they look at spike injuries, they look at hazard, anvils, rotation, you know, you're never going to be able to replicate a real fall from a horse on a machine. Every fall is absolutely different. But that's why, you know, we've adopted three international safety standards because they're all tested by different people in different ways, at different heights, on different machines, on different head forms to try and get as many scenarios under that helmet as such to mimic it as to how Simon would fall off.
• 39:14
  Speaker C: There have been so many ways,
• 39:18
  Speaker D: in all fairness, Simon doesn't fall off the horse goes down. There's a difference.
• 39:22
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 39:22
  Speaker D: Simon doesn't fall back. Fall off.
• 39:25
  Speaker B: Hey, at least you managed to get on. I went to a competition two weeks ago, got trod on in the lorry park and didn't even get on the horse and then it wouldn't load.
• 39:33
  Speaker C: No.
• 39:36
  Speaker D: I felt really bad for you. I don't know if I did. I meant to send you a message
• 39:39
  Speaker B: saying you probably laughed at it, Ben,
• 39:41
  Speaker D: and went, I actually thought, I can help with the loading thing. I can. So at least you can drive home with a broken foot. Put the horse loaded nicely.
• 39:53
  Speaker E: I was going to say Jade's mentioned the mythbusters series of posts that she came up with. We, as a business, we never have and we never will compromise on safety in any way. If we felt those products that we design in the UK and have made out in the Far east were in any way less safe than any other brand, we wouldn't do it. We just would not be in this game. This. This sector is so difficult. Safety is absolutely everything. You know, we always say, and the other brands say, you only have one head and you only have one life. And that's the core mission within the business, is to maintain that. And we would never do anything to jeopardize that. If we thought going to the Far east means we're making a cheap, inferior product, it just wouldn't even have been on the agenda to do at any point. So it's very important. The point Jade makes about dispelling those myths that people have around the yard, in the tack room, at competitions, when people are talking to each other. It's just something so fundamentally important to us that we still educate as much as we possibly can, despite what's happened.
• 41:18
  Speaker A: Because I had a. I think I rang you, Jade. And I was like, jade, I have just spent quite a lot of money on bike helmets for my kids and they have dials. I have ski helmets for my children that have dials. And if Charles Owen made ski and bike helmets, I would be buying yours. And then suddenly I'm told that dials are unsafe across social media and was like, can you? But you were like, no, it's fine. Like, it just it. Because it's not just riding helmets, is it that, like, you're myth busting for. It's for all the parents out there who've spent an effing fortune on bloody hats for any discipline and suddenly you're getting told on social media that they're not safe. And it does put the willies up you, especially when it's your kids wearing these things, not just wanting to protect Simon's head. And that's what we all want to do. But, yeah, and I've got my six year old and I've been told I'm probably not got something safe. I was like, jade, Jade.
• 42:11
  Speaker B: And you know, to kind of come back to the conversation that we had, Jenny, you know, the safest helmet is the helmet that fits you, essentially. So it could have all the safety standards on it in the world. But if it's like a bucket on your head or it's too small or it's perched all the way up here and it's not fitting correctly, it's not going to do its job. And the reason why we developed Dial Fit helmets when we did is we already had a catalogue of helmets that were in different head forms in terms of oval or round for different head shapes. We had removable headbands and fixed headbands. So the dial fit was for another type of person that preferred the dial fit that fitted them. It was more of a kind of universal shape. So it's kind of not quite round, not quite oval, so kind of in the middle. And it just meant that we then had more products that would fit even more heads. So there's more variety out there for people to then go and try. So this thing about dial Fit helmets being unsafe, you know, if I've got. So I'm a 56 centimeter head, if I've got a large shell on top of.
• 43:23
  Speaker C: Oh, my God, you're tiny.
• 43:25
  Speaker B: I'm also really flat on the back of my head, so I'm like a semicircle.
• 43:29
  Speaker A: What size are you for contrast, Simon?
• 43:32
  Speaker C: I'm a 62. 63. I'm massive.
• 43:43
  Speaker B: Dane's not far off.
• 43:46
  Speaker E: 61, I think. Wasn't I?
• 43:47
  Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 43:48
  Speaker C: And see, we're proper lads. Yeah.
• 43:52
  Speaker A: Wow.
• 43:54
  Speaker E: I fall off 100% of the time.
• 43:57
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Are we allowed to talk about that?
• 44:00
  Speaker E: You can if you want.
• 44:02
  Speaker C: Oh, poor Dave. Poor Dave.
• 44:04
  Speaker A: Poor Dave.
• 44:07
  Speaker B: I mean, his hat was solid.
• 44:09
  Speaker A: That was the only thing he didn't hurt.
• 44:11
  Speaker E: Not even a hint of a concussion. It was amazing.
• 44:15
  Speaker B: As he hit the ground, I was practicing for my new job.
• 44:21
  Speaker E: Jade was reaching for a camera so she could film it in slow motion.
• 44:24
  Speaker B: No, I wasn't.
• 44:26
  Speaker E: No, I know you weren't.
• 44:27
  Speaker A: Okay, so for context, I was meant to take Dave out on a horse for the first time and then it grew into something that we filmed with Silly Prune and we never got Dave on a Horse. And then Jade very kindly took Dave for his first ever horse ride in the Welsh Mountains. Dave?
• 44:43
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 44:44
  Speaker A: Yeah. I actually think she's after your job, Dave.
• 44:47
  Speaker B: She was trying to end up okay, by the looks of your. First ever. You did ride a bit as a child, didn't you?
• 44:52
  Speaker D: I did.
• 44:52
  Speaker B: So you just haven't ridden throughout your adult life? You've had better things to do?
• 44:56
  Speaker E: No. And again, I'm going to add more context here. When I couldn't come and ride with you, Jenny, I was disappointed that I couldn't come. And Jade. Jade recognized that. And Jade organized this lovely day in the Welsh hills with another one of our colleagues. So it was a. It was. It was one of the nicest things people had done for me for years. So I was. I was really grateful that I was going. And for the first hour and a quarter, I was having an amazing time. I was told I was doing okay.
• 45:28
  Speaker A: He was leading the way.
• 45:30
  Speaker B: He was trotting up the hill. He was having a great time.
• 45:32
  Speaker E: Because for the. For those who may remember, the last time I was on the pod, I was saying famously how non equestrian I was. So this was my kind of first step back into it. And, yeah, first hour and a quarter was fine. And then. Yeah, then I discovered how hard a Welsh mountain track actually is when you
• 45:52
  Speaker B: fall off a horse and how much fun drugs are.
• 45:57
  Speaker E: Yes, yes.
• 46:01
  Speaker A: So tell us what happens, because this was when you rang me, I was like, oh, my God,
• 46:09
  Speaker E: who's gonna go?
• 46:10
  Speaker A: Oh, Dave.
• 46:11
  Speaker E: Yeah, so it was, you know, because I was the novice rider, you know, the other guys were going at my pace, and we were just doing walk and then trot and walk and then trot. And then we got to this one section of the track, which was a very long, straight uphill bit. And the guide in front of me said, oh, I think we should go for an extended trot up here. And I think the horse just heard the word extended and just was a little bit more keen than it was the first few times. And I just. I just wasn't ready. So it was nothing spectacular. I wasn't galloping over a hedge or anything like that. It was the slowest moving accident from a horse that broke the maximum number of bones. My head was fine.
• 47:06
  Speaker C: I think you need to change that story, Dave. I think you need to make something up. Like, you know, we were hacking along. We were trekking along the side of a cliff, and it was just. And the horse slipped. And I saw my life flash before me. And then we fell 100ft and. Or something.
• 47:21
  Speaker A: And the horse was going to fall off the edge of the cliff, but I grabbed the reins and I saved the horse Pickle to see another day.
• 47:29
  Speaker E: I think by the, by the time I have grandkids, that's exactly what it's going to be. I was leaping across a ravine to save Jade. No, it was just one of those things. I'm sure a lot of the listeners will sympathize and empathize.
• 47:49
  Speaker A: I'm sorry, but not most people when they fall in the most innocuous way. Get the level of injuries. Take us through what your injuries were.
• 47:58
  Speaker E: Oh, so I broke. So I fell very heavily on my left hand side and I broke every rib on my left hand side. I broke five of those ribs in more than one place. I snapped my collarbone and I had a collapsed lung. And yeah, that's. That's enough to be going on with.
• 48:22
  Speaker D: That's grim.
• 48:24
  Speaker E: So. So, yeah, but I feel like I'm a proper horse rider now because every horse rider's got broken bones stories. So, you know Ben's face.
• 48:34
  Speaker A: I'm like, don't bitch about your knee next time, Ben. Right.
• 48:38
  Speaker B: That's just insane. I think it was funny because I think when.
• 48:44
  Speaker E: Go on, Jade.
• 48:45
  Speaker B: I was just gonna, like, you know, like an old quarry track. Like really what you were gonna call Dave old.
• 48:50
  Speaker A: You know, he's really old. Wow.
• 48:52
  Speaker B: Don't know what his bones are made out of, but, you know, like an old quarry track where it's kind of compressed, compacted, like hardcore with, like big bits of rockiness on it. And it was just. It was very hard. And you just literally fell kind of flat there, didn't you? And your elbow kind of went in and everything, just.
• 49:15
  Speaker E: But yes, we. And because we were so remote, it took a long time for the first responder to get there. So Jade and Michelle, who is our other colleague, were absolutely fantastic on the day. I couldn't really have got through that without them. And a couple of passing cyclists who. I think they, They've been through that experience being cyclists themselves. So they had the foil blankets, they had the, the water, they had the sweet treats, they had everything. And, you know, a big shout out to them for sticking with us. And, you know, we were there for a good three hours until the first responder got there and then it was all fine. You know, it was. Up until that point, it was. It was pretty grim. But after that point onwards, it was. It was fine. And the, the care that I've had since then has been second to none it's been absolutely fantastic and I'm, you know, five months on, I'm fully recovered. I've got a few aches and pains from my, my metal shoulder now, but things could have been a lot worse is what I keep saying. And it's not put me off. I just need to find a horse that is. I'm confident enough to get on, which I'm sure there's plenty being offered to me.
• 50:41
  Speaker D: I think things could have been a bit worse. I don't think things could have been a lot worse. You had a collapsed lung. I can't.
• 50:50
  Speaker C: Well, and it sounds like the entire cage that actually encases your body was totally destroyed. So, yeah,
• 51:00
  Speaker D: two helicopters.
• 51:01
  Speaker B: Two helicopters, yeah.
• 51:03
  Speaker E: So the air. The Coast Guard arrived and then the air ambulance arrived and then the Coast Guard decided I wasn't bothering them, so took off and then I was taken in the air ambulance to, to the Royal Stoke Hospital which has a fantastic major trauma unit. I can't, I can't speak highly enough of it. They were absolutely amazing.
• 51:28
  Speaker A: Why did the. What. How bad did you have to be for the Coast Guard to losing a limb?
• 51:35
  Speaker E: Well, the, the first responder when he assessed me, got straight on the radio and I heard him say he was. Because we were where we were. He was speaking in Welsh but I heard him say Coast Guard and I heard him say air ambulance. So I think it was a bit of a race to see who could get there the first. Literally within two minutes of him making that call, the Coast Guard was right above us.
• 51:59
  Speaker B: He was training quite close by, wasn't he? And then he didn't get a better offer. I think somebody had had an accident on Snowdon so he went off to go and deal with that and then the air ambulance had already arrived by that point. Yeah.
• 52:12
  Speaker E: But I was saying to Jay today, I think I've got a six month window where I can milk it and talk about it and then I've got to keep quiet about it. And I'm just coming up to the end of that six months now.
• 52:23
  Speaker A: Oh, well, I don't know. Ben and Simon and I bang on about stuff for longer than that. You're fine.
• 52:32
  Speaker C: Oh, again.
• 52:33
  Speaker E: And also, I mean, Jade is. Jade's very thankful of two things. Oh yeah, I'll let you, I'll let you explain.
• 52:42
  Speaker B: First of all, I'm very thankful that it didn't rain because it was really hard to try and keep him warm. Like as you mentioned earlier, the cyclists that came from past had foil blankets. We'd all kind of took coats off to keep him warm and couldn't move him. So obviously he was laying on the cold floor when cars were able to get up to us, there was horse rugs, saddle pads, the whole galore kind of trying to keep him warm. So I was very, very grateful that it didn't rain. Secondly, I was also very grateful that he went for a wee before getting on because as much as this was a bit of a bonding experience for us, if he'd a weed on me or. Or if I had to help him wee, then it. No,
• 53:28
  Speaker D: I've just got images of you trying to keep Dave warm and it being like that game at a house party when you're a kid, when someone passes out and you see how much stuff you can balance on them before they wake up, you're like foil, blanket, numbna. A rug. Get something else.
• 53:43
  Speaker B: Like Buckaroo.
• 53:45
  Speaker D: Yeah, like Buckaroo. I'm also.
• 53:48
  Speaker B: We already played that game.
• 53:49
  Speaker A: We didn't want to play that again.
• 53:51
  Speaker D: Properly traumatized, the idea of someone laying a heavy turnout rug over me.
• 53:56
  Speaker A: No, it wasn't.
• 53:57
  Speaker D: When I had a collapsed lung and broken ribs and just been. I can imagine you must have been winded when you hit the floor. Anybody that's ever damaged their ribs and you took it to the max.
• 54:09
  Speaker B: His soul escaped.
• 54:11
  Speaker D: How long did it take until you could cough and laugh without fear?
• 54:15
  Speaker E: Oh, even now, Ben, if I sneeze, I have to hold my ribs because there's still something not quite fixed in there. It's not painful, it's just a little bit uncomfortable. But it was probably, it was probably a good month until I could cough or sneeze without significant pain. So. But yeah, just to come back to the story about me, Jade saying she wouldn't have taken me for a wee or whatever she thought I would have done. Apparently in the office on the Monday, they were telling the team in the office what had happened and Jay told the story. I'm just glad that he went to the toilet before we went rising because I wouldn't have done any of that. And one of the members of team who shall remain nameless very proudly stood up and went, I'd have done that if he needed a wee, I would have sorted him out. So good honor, that's what I say.
• 55:26
  Speaker C: Jade, you let down.
• 55:28
  Speaker B: And you know what, though, Like, I don't have empathy for people, so I think I did very well that day.
• 55:35
  Speaker E: It was very. In all seriousness, it was very traumatic for Jade and Mitch and imagine they kept it together for my sake, really. Really?
• 55:45
  Speaker B: Well, for the most part.
• 55:48
  Speaker E: Well, you know, you did.
• 55:49
  Speaker A: That is traumatic. I love it when someone tells a good story because Ben is really bad at hiding his facial expressions and like you can just tell exactly what he's thinking. Like the whole time he's just there like, oh my God, what could I do? I'm thinking of like the least inappropriate thing to respond with. Right, we have been going for an hour already. I think it is time for a. What's annoyed you this week, Jade? You're quite a ranty person. Like me. I feel like you might be good. Yeah, you like a good rant? Come on, you do.
• 56:23
  Speaker B: Oh, see, there's loads. But I feel like, I feel like I can't get into it too much because there's five of us on the call. So I'm just going to be really boring and say I hate traffic lights. Especially when like, you know, like when they're doing work. So the reason why I was like, oh, can we move it back? Can we not? Can we leave the office early? They're doing roadworks on the way back home and today the lights were off. It's a four way control on a roundabout and not one bugger is there working.
• 56:53
  Speaker A: Why are the lights on there?
• 56:54
  Speaker C: Yeah, like such a good point. So that kind of, that's probably annoyed me this week, like, because on my way. So it takes me 45 minutes to get to the yard. It's quite a long old journey considering. And. And on the way there are three sets of traffic lights now which are roadworks. And I went in the other day and there wasn't a single workman in any, any of the three roadwork bits. And I was just like, guys, what? And it was like it was time when they should have been working. So I'm like, what is going on, guys?
• 57:24
  Speaker B: It drives me insane.
• 57:27
  Speaker A: See by us there's a gravel pit where they do loads of filming. They filmed the last of Us. They film all the time. They're filming Fear Factor, Percy Jackson, everything I where they film Free Willy, for example. And I live near a mine and they filmed like X Files, like so much filming. So for the last of us, they built an entire city, like a whole like sorry town. And they put green screens and they made this massive infrastructure which then they also took down and they did it in a matter of like days and weeks. And then they had it there for like six months and took it down. And I remember watching this thing grow and the logistics behind filming is extremely extraordinary. And when I was watching this thing happen and, like, they could. They take over the car park in front of our house, they set up whole sets and then take it down in the same day. All right. And how can they not fix a road? Like, how. How is it to fix a pothole? Takes about three weeks. They close down four roads which apparently don't need to be closed down. I just don't understand it. But yet they can build a whole town in a week. I just. I don't get it. I don't get it. They need to employ these people who make film sets to come and fix roads. This is my conclusion.
• 58:35
  Speaker B: And why is it when there's a pothole and you know that pothole is there, you still drive through it?
• 58:39
  Speaker A: Oh, I hate that. They call where we live in the Cotswolds now, apparently, the Pottswolds, because it's so bad.
• 58:49
  Speaker C: Is it bad around there now?
• 58:50
  Speaker A: Oh, it's so bad. Watch out when you go to Badders. Oh, it's so bad. Like, I just don't understand it. Like, you can barely drive up my mum and dad's street in Malmesbury. It's ridiculous. Really makes me angry. Anyway, sorry, who's got another? What's annoyed you? That's a good not to annoyed you.
• 59:08
  Speaker E: I've got one. So I remember last time I was on the pod, my what annoyed me was the price of UK train tickets compared to. Yes, it was overseas train tickets. Well, there's a theme. So I was on the. I was on the train two weeks ago. And so, full disclosure, I had a very significant birthday last month, which meant I could get a certain type of rail card. So I procured said rail card and was then pleased as a punch when I got a third off the price of a UK train ticket. But of course, on the ticket is printed senior rail card. So you have to show the ticket and the rail card. So I'm on the train and the young lady comes around to check my ticket. She checks my ticket and she didn't ask to see my rail card. I was devastated because clearly I look old enough to have a senior rail car.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker A: That's like the reverse of when your people stop asking you for ID for.
• 1:00:24
  Speaker D: Exactly.
• 1:00:26
  Speaker E: She wasn't even. She didn't even flicker. There was no way she was going to ask me for that railcard. I had it ready on my phone and everything.
• 1:00:34
  Speaker B: Yeah, but watch though, now you'll get on a train and forget your railcard and you'll get some jobs worth. Come on and be like, no, mate, I Need to see Railcard and you won't have it.
• 1:00:42
  Speaker E: Another digital these days, Jade. Yeah.
• 1:00:47
  Speaker B: So they give a senior citizen rail card that's only digital.
• 1:00:53
  Speaker E: No, you can choose. But I chose digital because I don't think I'm old.
• 1:00:58
  Speaker B: Right, like you're old now. Well done. Here's a card. But you've got to have it on your phone that you don't know how to use.
• 1:01:06
  Speaker A: I feel like this is a bit of an enlightenment into how these two work together.
• 1:01:10
  Speaker E: Well, she's forgotten that we're gonna be stuck in a car for six hours tomorrow.
• 1:01:15
  Speaker B: Oh, God, yeah.
• 1:01:16
  Speaker A: Where are you going tomorrow? Or are we not allowed to know?
• 1:01:19
  Speaker B: No, you can. Well, we're going to go see a rider, aren't we?
• 1:01:22
  Speaker E: Yeah. Yes.
• 1:01:25
  Speaker A: A nice rider, I hope.
• 1:01:27
  Speaker B: Why are you pulling that face?
• 1:01:28
  Speaker A: Simon says what you're doing is this for something exciting?
• 1:01:32
  Speaker B: No, not really.
• 1:01:33
  Speaker E: No. It's just a. Just a meeting, just a catch up. I'm excited because I've not met him before, so.
• 1:01:42
  Speaker A: Interesting.
• 1:01:42
  Speaker C: Ooh, we've got a clue. We've got a clue. What other clues can we get?
• 1:01:46
  Speaker B: Can we say it?
• 1:01:47
  Speaker A: Well, give us clues and see if we can guess them.
• 1:01:50
  Speaker E: It's not a secret.
• 1:01:51
  Speaker B: Yeah. An eventer.
• 1:01:53
  Speaker A: Yeah. Okay.
• 1:01:54
  Speaker C: There's lots of male aventer.
• 1:01:57
  Speaker A: One of your sponsored riders, Austin o'. Connor.
• 1:01:59
  Speaker C: British.
• 1:02:00
  Speaker B: British, yes.
• 1:02:02
  Speaker C: British Olympian.
• 1:02:04
  Speaker E: Yes.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker A: William Foxbear. No.
• 1:02:08
  Speaker E: No.
• 1:02:08
  Speaker C: Tommy Hewen.
• 1:02:09
  Speaker A: Yes, Correct. Oh, we like Tom.
• 1:02:13
  Speaker C: Tom's cool.
• 1:02:14
  Speaker A: He is. He's very funny. I was going to ask something else then. Oh, yes. When I was in during COVID I bought some alcohol and Waitrose and the woman came over to. Because I was doing it on. You know when you do it on themselves, machines, they have to come and do your age. And I had my mask on and I beeped it and she came over and she looked at me and went, yeah, okay. And did it. And I was like, even my eyes look old. Even my eyes. She didn't even question it. She couldn't see any of my face. I was wearing a hoodie. I thought, she's definitely gonna ask for my id. No, even your eyes say you're f. Old. Really?
• 1:02:53
  Speaker E: Yeah. That was the feeling I had. Jenny. It's horrible.
• 1:02:58
  Speaker A: But anyway, Benjamin, what's annoyed you this week? Oh, what are you gonna say? You're gonna slag me out? I was gonna.
• 1:03:03
  Speaker D: No, I was gonna say today is my dad's birthday and he's actually dead chuffed because now he's been spent all day telling everybody that now he can get his pension. So he's absolutely dead chuffed.
• 1:03:15
  Speaker A: Oh, how old is. Is that? How old's pension age? I don't even know.
• 1:03:18
  Speaker D: 65, is it?
• 1:03:22
  Speaker E: It's different for different people.
• 1:03:23
  Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. 65. Mr. A silver fox.
• 1:03:27
  Speaker A: He does not look 65.
• 1:03:29
  Speaker C: Superstar.
• 1:03:30
  Speaker D: Yeah. What's annoyed me this week, Very trivial, but very disappointing. I watched the new Peaky Blinders film.
• 1:03:38
  Speaker A: Oh, no, don't tell me it's not good.
• 1:03:40
  Speaker D: It's shit. Do you know when you sit there for two hours going, in a minute.
• 1:03:50
  Speaker B: In a minute.
• 1:03:50
  Speaker D: It's like, come on. Like, no.
• 1:03:52
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 1:03:52
  Speaker D: Okay. Halfway through. Yeah. Oh, like that scene they've used to advertise it everywhere, where he walks into the bar and he's like, oh, I'm
• 1:04:00
  Speaker B: Tommy Sherwood, looking for my son.
• 1:04:02
  Speaker C: Who are you?
• 1:04:02
  Speaker D: Like, no one cares. Someone tell them who I am. And everyone ducks down and you're like, yeah, come on, sir. So anticlimactic.
• 1:04:11
  Speaker B: Doesn't he do something with a grenade?
• 1:04:14
  Speaker D: There is a thing with a grenade. That is the only good part of the film. Every other part of it. Do you know when you're just. You introduced his son in the last film. We all know you're going to flog this horse until it's dead and buried. Just crack on with it. You didn't need to besmirch the character of Tommy Shelby in your corporate creed.
• 1:04:36
  Speaker B: He's passed the baton now, though, hasn't he?
• 1:04:39
  Speaker A: Which is.
• 1:04:39
  Speaker D: Which must mean my life's quite good this week because the. Because that's the worst thing I know.
• 1:04:45
  Speaker A: Watching and you found time and you've had time to watch one that's even more impressive.
• 1:04:50
  Speaker D: Really disappointed me. That was. Yeah, that was diabolical. That's my. What's.
• 1:04:54
  Speaker A: Do you know when you look forward
• 1:04:55
  Speaker D: to something for ages and then it's Jess.
• 1:04:59
  Speaker C: Shit.
• 1:05:00
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 1:05:00
  Speaker B: Dave looked forward to riding.
• 1:05:02
  Speaker D: Yeah, the riding was fine. It was Dave's riding that was a bit on the jade.
• 1:05:10
  Speaker E: Tell the story that you told me about Niall today.
• 1:05:14
  Speaker B: What?
• 1:05:16
  Speaker E: When you were in the car with him at the weekend.
• 1:05:18
  Speaker B: Oh, God. Yeah. We were driving to the yard and
• 1:05:22
  Speaker A: just for context, Niall is your partner?
• 1:05:24
  Speaker B: Yes. We were driving to the yard because I wanted to sit on my horse even though my foot's broke. So, you know, whatever. We were driving and an air ambulance went past and I just looked out the window and was like, oh, look, a helicopter. As you do. And Niall went, oh, as Dave been riding again. Just came out with it, so.
• 1:05:47
  Speaker A: Right.
• 1:05:49
  Speaker C: I. Sorry. One thing that's Annoyed me this week is because I didn't have something, but talking about going away with people. So it's one of my best mates, Josie's birthday and there are three of us. Well, the four of us, there's Marie, Josie and Carrie. And we do loads of stuff together. We're all really good mates, have we, for years. And Carrie decided that it would be a really good idea, as a birthday surprise, to take Josie to Benidorm for three days to just go and have a really fun time, go karaoke, get drunk. Because they've all got kids and husbands and partners and so it was just been nice to get away and obviously I was. Obviously, I was invited to come along as well. But it fell on yesterday, Lincoln, which is a really important run for Buster, and I was so torn. And I had such a lovely time yesterday, like, really enjoyed it. But at the same time I was really annoyed because I wanted to be there doing karaoke. And they kept on sending me, like, videos of them having a great time and they were spewing, or Josie was spewing.
• 1:06:53
  Speaker A: Sorry, Josie.
• 1:06:54
  Speaker C: But she was.
• 1:06:56
  Speaker A: What would be your karaoke song?
• 1:07:01
  Speaker C: Oh, well, I mean, I do your song all the time. Elton John's one.
• 1:07:07
  Speaker A: Oh, the Elton John or the Moulin?
• 1:07:09
  Speaker B: That's so ballad, that is.
• 1:07:11
  Speaker C: Yeah. No, it's not really karaoke, is it?
• 1:07:13
  Speaker B: It's a bit dull,
• 1:07:16
  Speaker C: you know, I do Elton. Not the. Not. Not Ewan.
• 1:07:21
  Speaker A: Not Ewan.
• 1:07:24
  Speaker C: I would like to do the karaoke. The Elephant Medley, which is Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman.
• 1:07:29
  Speaker B: Yes, I'll do that.
• 1:07:31
  Speaker A: Elephant Medley. What is the Elephant Medley? Have you ever Elephant Medley?
• 1:07:34
  Speaker B: Watch Moulin Rouge.
• 1:07:35
  Speaker A: I have, but not for a long time.
• 1:07:37
  Speaker B: Right, watch it. Tonight
• 1:07:41
  Speaker D: is one of the best films of all time.
• 1:07:44
  Speaker C: It is brilliant. I'll send you a jenny to remind. To remind you of what it is.
• 1:07:48
  Speaker A: Yeah, Remind me.
• 1:07:50
  Speaker C: You will remember.
• 1:07:51
  Speaker A: This could be our new feature. What's your karaoke song? What's yours? Jade, Dave, Ben. What is it?
• 1:07:56
  Speaker B: Mine's probably getting fat out of hell or something.
• 1:07:58
  Speaker A: Like really love a bit of meatloaf. Love meatloaf.
• 1:08:04
  Speaker E: Well, I'm embarrassed to say, I've never done karaoke.
• 1:08:08
  Speaker B: What?
• 1:08:09
  Speaker C: Never, ever.
• 1:08:09
  Speaker E: Oh, never done it. And I. I felt so much hair
• 1:08:14
  Speaker B: come out of my laptop. Then he was fucking.
• 1:08:17
  Speaker E: Well, I have no intention to ever do it.
• 1:08:21
  Speaker C: No. Oh, disappointing.
• 1:08:23
  Speaker E: I feel like it goes back to my younger days because I used to be in a band years ago, so I had my fill of music.
• 1:08:32
  Speaker C: Oh, so you can sing. It's not that you can't sing.
• 1:08:34
  Speaker B: It's just drums.
• 1:08:36
  Speaker E: No, that's why I was a drummer.
• 1:08:43
  Speaker B: Just sat in the back like that.
• 1:08:45
  Speaker E: Yeah.
• 1:08:47
  Speaker C: Do you know. Do you never like. Because I do, obviously, because I do quite a lot of driving. I do a lot of singing to myself and my, my latest one when I sing to myself is I dreamed a Dream.
• 1:08:59
  Speaker A: Oh, go and give us a line.
• 1:09:00
  Speaker D: Are you okay, Simon? If I.
• 1:09:02
  Speaker A: If I.
• 1:09:02
  Speaker D: If I heard you singing that, I'd be like, is everything all right? Is everything all right at home?
• 1:09:07
  Speaker A: I don't know.
• 1:09:08
  Speaker C: I think it's because of my acting classes. I was like, oh, maybe I should be getting into something like that. But it's a woman that sings that, isn't it?
• 1:09:14
  Speaker D: So, yeah, it's very sad.
• 1:09:16
  Speaker A: She does sing that.
• 1:09:18
  Speaker C: She sings it in Le Mis Lemes Are album.
• 1:09:22
  Speaker A: She sings it after, like, as she's
• 1:09:24
  Speaker D: dying from horrible diseases that she's got from being a prostitute.
• 1:09:29
  Speaker C: I dreamed a dream in time gone by when life was no worth living when, when hope was high and life worth living yeah, yeah.
• 1:09:36
  Speaker A: Are you like, I dreamed a dream of five stars gone by when the vicarage V was worth jumping.
• 1:09:47
  Speaker B: Oh, my God.
• 1:09:50
  Speaker E: We'll play that for you, Sam, as you set off on the cross country coast.
• 1:09:53
  Speaker C: Oh, perfect. Perfect.
• 1:09:54
  Speaker E: Yeah.
• 1:09:54
  Speaker C: No, I think Battle of Hell is better than that.
• 1:09:57
  Speaker A: I don't think Battle of Hell is your cross country song, Simon. I'm really sorry. You need to go a bit faster for that. Long and winding road A fair
• 1:10:16
  Speaker E: reed
• 1:10:19
  Speaker A: harsh prefer you know I love you. What's your karaoke song then, Benjamin? I get knocked down. Did I get up again? Bring me down. Well, this is fun. I'm having very fun being horrible to all of you. So you don't pick your own karaoke
• 1:10:36
  Speaker D: songs though, do you? Or at least I've not.
• 1:10:38
  Speaker B: When you do, you just get up when the moment feels right.
• 1:10:41
  Speaker D: Well, no. Your friends pick your karaoke songs, don't they? That's the correct way to do karaoke because that way no one gets to look good.
• 1:10:49
  Speaker A: Oh, that's true. Or do you have those friends who. Who think they can sing but can't?
• 1:10:56
  Speaker D: No, sickeningly, I have the opposite. I have friends who have all, like, been to RADA and Mount View and so they will get up and sing and then you're like, oh, marvellous. Thank you very much. That was perfect. I'll just get up and drunkenly stumble my way through. Thank you very much.
• 1:11:12
  Speaker A: You like Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend's Wedding?
• 1:11:15
  Speaker D: Yeah. Brutal. But no, I don't mind. Something fun, something daft.
• 1:11:22
  Speaker B: You'd be like Carly Rae. Call me. Maybe
• 1:11:26
  Speaker C: Wap.
• 1:11:28
  Speaker D: If we were Wap. If we were. If we were at a karaoke bar, I would do Wap.
• 1:11:32
  Speaker A: What's Wap?
• 1:11:36
  Speaker C: Go on, Ben, sing it. It's.
• 1:11:40
  Speaker D: Well, Jenny, the song's called Wet Ass Pussy.
• 1:11:43
  Speaker A: Oh, I've never heard that one.
• 1:11:50
  Speaker B: And our butt bomb shout.
• 1:11:52
  Speaker C: Wow Sharp. And rye
• 1:11:56
  Speaker D: badminton Know what they've ordered. We can play Wap as we come onto stage to open the pod.
• 1:12:02
  Speaker A: No, no, no.
• 1:12:04
  Speaker D: Hit that little dangly thing right at the bottom.
• 1:12:08
  Speaker B: To be fair, you made it a whole hour before swearing, Jenny, so I'm really proud of you.
• 1:12:13
  Speaker A: Thank you, Jade. I thought you'd appreciate. I tried really hard to be grown up, but Dave knew what he was letting himself in for. He knew it. I was just thinking, like, Ben would be like, I'm too sexy for my shirt.
• 1:12:27
  Speaker C: And then with it off.
• 1:12:28
  Speaker D: Yeah, but you can keep your hat on.
• 1:12:33
  Speaker E: Yeah.
• 1:12:34
  Speaker D: We get full monty.
• 1:12:35
  Speaker A: Yeah. Christ. Although someone did send me a link to someone doing a dressage. A rider called Brittany. She's Canadian. To Brittany Bitch. And she did her freestyle to that. I have to send you the link. It's brilliant. I was like, that's what we should be doing dressage to. Right, you lovely pair. Charles Owen. Well, you do need to start employing someone called Charles or Owen.
• 1:13:01
  Speaker B: The owner's called Owen.
• 1:13:02
  Speaker E: The owner of the business is called Owen.
• 1:13:05
  Speaker A: Well, the first name. Owen, yes. And was it after the. I'm confused. After Charles Owen.
• 1:13:13
  Speaker E: His second name is not Owen. He's the great, great grandson of Charles Owen, but his surname is not Owen. So he's not Owen Owen, which would be the most name you could ever.
• 1:13:26
  Speaker C: He's actually Owen Charles, but he said his name is.
• 1:13:29
  Speaker A: I mean, so I had a friend in Cyprus called Joachim. Joachim. His first name was Joachim and his surname was Joachim.
• 1:13:38
  Speaker D: I know someone called Gilbert Gilbertson.
• 1:13:41
  Speaker B: Oh, that's sad.
• 1:13:43
  Speaker D: It's marvellous. No, no, no, no, no. If you. It fits, it fits.
• 1:13:48
  Speaker B: Oh, okay. Send me a picture.
• 1:13:50
  Speaker D: It's mullet on a four wheeler. It's.
• 1:13:53
  Speaker B: Yeah, okay. Put it in the group.
• 1:13:56
  Speaker D: Put it in the group.
• 1:13:57
  Speaker A: It is hard choosing a child's name. Like you went ballsy. Yeah. You.
• 1:14:03
  Speaker C: What?
• 1:14:05
  Speaker A: Shade just said, don't have them, then.
• 1:14:07
  Speaker D: Don't have them.
• 1:14:08
  Speaker A: Why?
• 1:14:09
  Speaker D: I've got mine. It's here.
• 1:14:12
  Speaker A: Good. Wild. Lysander. You went wild.
• 1:14:16
  Speaker D: Lysander Atkinson. Yeah. He's got to be cool or he's
• 1:14:21
  Speaker E: going to get Bullied by you.
• 1:14:23
  Speaker D: By me?
• 1:14:25
  Speaker A: The way you said that. Poor kid.
• 1:14:28
  Speaker B: No kids. I've got Ian and Phil.
• 1:14:31
  Speaker A: Ian and Phil the cats. Your cats. Jade has Ian and Phil the cats. Oh, yeah.
• 1:14:37
  Speaker B: Yours is called Sid. So I've just got a cluster of old men for pets.
• 1:14:42
  Speaker D: And Dave.
• 1:14:44
  Speaker B: Dave's not a good pet.
• 1:14:49
  Speaker E: The way she talks to me sometimes I do wonder.
• 1:14:52
  Speaker B: No, no.
• 1:14:54
  Speaker E: When she feeds me treats, I know she wants something and says, sit.
• 1:15:00
  Speaker B: Rub your nose in your piss.
• 1:15:03
  Speaker D: That's what you'd have done on that mountain. Dirty boy. No, bad.
• 1:15:12
  Speaker B: Far too much fun. I've got to go and cook dinner.
• 1:15:15
  Speaker A: Oh, right. Dave's not Dave. Ben's gotta go on a webinar.
• 1:15:19
  Speaker D: Yeah. I've got to switch. Imagine how I've got to switch gears now. I've got to go through this to. Good evening, band members. Tonight we're going to be doing lorry and trailer loading.
• 1:15:29
  Speaker B: That's what we're talking about. Maybe I need to do that.
• 1:15:32
  Speaker E: Yeah.
• 1:15:33
  Speaker B: Hey, you started it by mentioning just.
• 1:15:36
  Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Oh, my God, is that your, like, grown up bam voice? Because I've never heard your grown up voice.
• 1:15:44
  Speaker D: My grown up Simon's?
• 1:15:46
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 1:15:47
  Speaker D: No, my. My grown up band voice you heard on the podcast tour.
• 1:15:52
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
• 1:15:54
  Speaker D: Like when it's when I go onto autopilot. Not autopilot, but when it like clicks work mode.
• 1:16:01
  Speaker A: And if anyone wants to watch the tour back, it's all available link in the Instagram bio on Vimeo. Anyway, thank you so much for coming on. I think the boys will join me in saying how much we love you and appreciate you and for all your support and just being. Yeah. Believing in us and coming on this ridiculously crazy adventure that we all seem to be on. And you are both incredibly wonderful humans and it's just. Yeah. I feel like we got sponsors but ended up with very good friends. So it's lovely. Thank you very much and hopefully we will see you soon. I will be over for badminton, but. Yeah, thank you so much for coming on and good luck with everything and. Yes, stay strong.
• 1:16:51
  Speaker E: Could I. Could I just say, to finish, Danny, it's been a great opportunity to kind of talk through what's happened. I just want to reassure those people who have supported us. This is just another evolution in the business. I was thinking about this this afternoon. This business started over 100 years ago, and when it started, it made military helmets, which people may not know, and then it went from military helmets to motorcycle helmets. And it wasn't until after the Second World War that we actually started to make equestrian helmets. So this business has always evolved, just like any business evolves. And this latest iteration of the company is nothing more than an evolution. So I just want to reassure the loyal followers of Charles Owen that it's the natural way of the world when it comes to business, and we've got no plans of going anywhere soon.
• 1:17:49
  Speaker B: Yay.
• 1:17:50
  Speaker A: Well said. Well said. On that note, Dave and Jade, all that is left to do is to say, well, shut up and ride. And if you do ride, please try and stay on next time. That would be great, but thank you so much for coming on. And, yeah, Ben Simon, sing us out.
• 1:18:08
  Speaker D: Shut up and ride?
• 1:18:10
  Speaker C: Ride, ride?
• 1:18:12
  Speaker E: Shut up and ride? Ride.