The British cashmere knitwear manufacturer Pringle has a long tradition as one of the leading fashion producers. The company has been known for quality and enjoys a faithful group of customers. However, the company suffered substantial losses during the 1990s and needed to substantially downsize its employees from over 2000 to 180. These layoffs were necessary due to adverse exchange rates, stronger competition within the European market, an unsuccessful diversification into mass market sportswear and a decline in manufacturing quality. In fact, Pringle was on the brink of bankruptcy. In 2000, the Fang Brothers- a Hong-Kong-based investment company- decided to acquire Pringle for just 9 million in an approach to diversify their investment portfolio. One of the first activities of the new owners was to recruit Kim Winser. Kim had been working for over 10 years as senior executive for Marks & Spencer and was considered an expert in the British and European fashion market.

As soon as Kim took office, she quickly realised that Pringle's product portfolio was too big, did not yield any synergies and was poorly designed. Given that the brand had suffered substantially during the past years, the CEO decided to reposition Pringle in the market: away from a rather staid, middle-aged image towards a designer fashion brand. This was a major challenge, but as the company had lost its traditional customers, Kim thought that she had nothing to lose. Kim considered the rejuvenation of the brand not as a risk but rather as an opportunity. Her confidence increased even more after she managed to convince her former Chief of Marketing at Marks & Spencer, Greg McAllister, to join Pringle. The arrival of the new CEO as well as the replacement of the Chief of Marketing ensured that employees at Pringle knew that changes were about to take place.

After having met with Pringle's senior manager, Kim decided on a relaunch of the fashion range of knitwear in just 12 weeks. While the production department had been very sceptical about such a short production cycle, Kim promised the employees an additional bonus if they reached this target. In a general assembly with the staff, she publicly announced that 'products have to change and this change has to be done fast'. This, she argued, was essential in order to present a new range at the forthcoming Italian trade fair. However, some senior executives remained very critical of this approach and defended the company's prior strategy. According to this group, 'quality takes time'. Consequently, Kim only worked with senior executives who supported her change plan.

A couple of weeks into her new position, she realised that most of the workforce expected the factory to close, perhaps with manufacturing moving to the Far East. In a written email to her employees, Kim confirmed that manufacturing would remain in Hawick in Scotland. She further reinforced the Scottish link by branding the fashion merchandise 'Pringle Scotland' and explained: 'I have added a Scotland to the name because in a lot of countries worldwide, it is definitely a bonus. Pringle will be known for high quality Scottish cashmere!'

While Kim was trying to restructure the operations and keep the employees motivated, McAllister recruited new young designers. He also decided to move the design department from Scotland to London. After a long discussion with McAllister, Kim also moved the company headquarters from the prestigious Savile Row in London to a new, more modern building, which reduced office expenditure significantly.

However, some of the senior executives continued to resist these changes. In a meeting with her executives, Kim decided to terminate the contract with the existing Manufacturing Director after he repeatedly criticised her decision-making. McAllister supported this strategy and decided to cancel the contract of Nick Faldo, a golfer, who had been Pringle's celebrity face for almost 20 years. For McAllister, Pringle needed something new and thus Pringle would merchandise its products on young and trendy models.

The relaunch of the marketing strategy was supported by a visit of the Princess Royal to the Hawick factory at around the same time as the redesigned sweaters were seen worn publically by David Beckham, the internationally famous football star.

The target of the Italian trade fair was met, 20 per cent of the existing retail outlets were dropped and new retailers recruited, including Harvey Nichols and Selfridges. By the end of 2000, sales were increasing. Pringle decided to expand its production and hired an additional 80 employees, combined with investment in new machinery at Hawick. In 2001, sales increased about 30 percent up on the previous year. By 2003, the business press was reporting the newfound success of Pringle. Having consolidated its position in the UK, Pringle had plans underway for retail expansion in the USA and Hong Kong. Sophie Dahl (English author, cookbook writer and former model) became the 'new face' in Pringle's advertising.

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