About

Bigger Feet was started in September 2004, and is still located in Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire today in 2009.

After having struggled to find size 13 shoes for himself, Oliver Bridge realised that there was a gap in the market for people who needed big shoes. Taking a couple of days off school to go to trade shows and meet manufacturers, it soon became apparent that there was the means to launch a big footwear company as well as the market. Being only 15 years old, and therefore unable to single handedly register a company or open a business bank account at the time, Oliver co-founded the company with Paul Wilkinson and his mum, Lesley Bridge, who were both legal adults at the time.

Teaching himself web design and credit card integration procedures, Oliver launched the site whilst sitting his GCSEs in 2005 and sold his first pair of shoes within half an hour. Within several weeks, sales had gone global, with orders from Saudi Arabia, USA and The Netherlands. In the following months and years, both Bigger Feet and Oliver have gone from strength to strength. In November 2005, Oliver won the Make Your Mark / Lloyds TSB award for teen entrepreneurship, and appearances in the Financial Times, Daily Mail, the Independent on Sunday, CNN, ITV1's Five o'clock show, BBC1 Breakfast News, and The Director magazine as well as numerous local TV, newsaper and radio appearances followed.

In 2006, Oliver sold the company to his younger brother Thomas Bridge, then 16 so that he could focus on his university application. Thomas introduced several changes to the business, including diversification into new lines, and a focus on army cadet boots for school CCF forces - a separate and ongoing arm of the business.

Thomas' own exam pressures forced him to relinquish control of the company in 2008, which is now run the boys' mum, Lesley.

Oliver has moved on to other business ventures since Bigger Feet. Both he and his mother Lesley purchased a French gite in the Vendee (www.forge-properties.com) which is a 6 bedroom rural townhouse now avaialble for holiday lets. More recently, Oliver has begun work on www.genderchecker.com, a site designed to allow you to see whether a name is male or female. In a multicultural world, surveys show that more than ever, we're concerned about confusing someone's gender because their name is unfamiliar - this site should put an end to that problem. Moreover, Oliver is offering a case of Dom Perignon Champagne for the person who can guess the name of the company teddy bear - it's free to enter...

But, whatever, my sons are up to, I can assure you that BIgger Feet is still offering the low prices and top quality that you tell us you love. We are solely web-based and we keep our costs low, so the savings are passed on to our customers - you. If we can help at all or you want something new, please do let us know - we want Bigger Feet to grow and flourish around its customers.

Best Wishes,

Lesley Bridge