Foundation Member – Ronhill
Ronhill and Hilly are two of the UK’s leading and award-winning, technical performance running brands, owned by the family-owned Bollin Group based in Macclesfield who also own a number of other sport and outdoor brands.
Both Ronhill and Hilly were founded by Dr Ron Hill, MBE, the world record holding champion runner, who won the European, Boston and Commonwealth marathons, with a personal best time of 2.09.28, set in 1970. In the same year he founded Ronhill Sports. Ron was the first to design, develop and test apparel and accessories specifically for runners. Much of the early product development was driven by Ron, based on his experience as a world elite runner, but also from his experience in technical design having a PhD in Textile Chemistry.
He designed the world famous ‘Trackster’ legwear, the split-side (Freedom) short, mesh vest and was instrumental in introducing synthetic fabrics into running apparel. In addition, he was the first to introduce reflective trim onto running apparel, now used by all running brands, worldwide.
Today, the company continues to develop new and exciting products using the latest eco-conscious technical fabrics to satisfy the needs of all runners, in its Tech, Life and Core categories. The brand is well placed to take advantage of the trend towards increased popularity and participation in a variety of running sports. To complement the range of apparel, the brand offers a comprehensive range of accessories including: hats, gloves, caps, underwear, sunglasses, packs and hydration products.
Hilly, founded in 1992 is the award-winning specialist running sock brand. Offering a comprehensive range of technical running socks to cater for all the needs of the runner.
The brand presents the range of running socks to consumers, incorporating three key aspects: Technical, Trend and Touch. Key styles include: the Twin Skin range of double layer, anti-blister socks and the highly popular Marathon Fresh and Supreme styles. The brand will launch a new range of trail socks in the spring and with new packaging, categorisation and instore POS and merchandising units is poised to further increase its market share.