Time for a new venture for Leeds family duo

Toby Dodwell and father-in-law Andy Jackson have teamed up to create the Frederick Jackson range of watches in a venture that has also been a personal lifeline for Mr Jackson while he recovered from a life-threatening stroke.

As he was laid in his hospital bed, Toby pitched the idea to him and 18 months later he is on the road to recovery and the business is up and running.

Toby, 39, has worked on projects around the world as well as for Ricci’s Tapas and 53 Degrees North in Leeds and told City Buzz he wanted to create something from start to finish himself.

He said: “I had been thinking about it for months and when we saw him at hospital thought ‘this was very real’ and it brought it to the fore-front.

“A week later he had the second and that almost killed him. We didn’t know if he would go back to work and thought let’s do something to keep his mind off it and have a back-up plan.”

Capitalising on the family tailoring business that harks back to 1910, they wanted to retain the ‘Britishness’ of that time with the sleek design and sophisticated materials.

He said: “My day job is brand designer and have been doing it across the world. Two years ago I started to think I wanted to bring a product to the market myself. So many brands stamp their logo on something and get a product out but we wanted to start from the bare bones.”

Market research cost thousands in watches they bought to help create three luxury looking pieces for men and women priced realistically. He added: “I’ve never bought a really expensive watch as I couldn’t justify the cost but, built those ideals into Fredrick Jackson using quality materials but being attainable to all.”