Over the last four decades, Lusso has built a reputation among cyclists for high-quality performance wear, designed and handcrafted at their premises in Bury: ‘We bring in raw materials and we turn them into beautiful kit’, as their website states. 

Now, with a new high-performance waterproof jacket becoming the most successful product launch in its 43-year history, the company is entering a new phase of innovation thanks to our support.

Turning a bold idea into a market-ready product

Bringing the product to life wasn’t easy, says CEO Jake Wright, a former professional cyclist and national Time Trial champion: “We’d identified a gap in the market, but were facing a couple of barriers. The first was financial; the newer sort of high-tech machinery we need to make waterproof clothing is very expensive, and as a small business we struggle to fund it. The second barrier was getting independent verification that the fabric we were using in this new product was the best fit for the job.” 

With limited capital and a complex technical brief, the company turned to GM Business Growth Hub to explore its options. Working with our Innovation Service, Lusso were able to take advantage of a support package tailored specifically to their situation.  

‘Absolutely vital’ business support 

The new Perform HardRain Jacket went on sale in October 2025, with projected sales of 1,000 jackets for the first six months – “and then continue to scale from there” – as well as the creation of two new jobs during this period to support production. 

We’ll leave the last words to Jake, who says, “Being guided by innovation specialists to carry out the testing was absolutely vital to us being able to accelerate our launch date without putting financial strain on the business. We’d recommend any business in Greater Manchester to reach out to GM Business Growth Hub to see how they can support you with innovation or general business advice.”