Velozia launched in April 2025
Carl Giles (left) and Joe Conchie, owners of Velozia Sportswear, at Jayde Spa’s gym(Image: Iain Watts)
Two PE teachers have set up a brand after spotting a gap in premium sportswear clothing. Carl Giles, 44, from Anfield, co-founded Velozia with Joe Conchie, 32, in April 2025. Together, the business owners have around 28 years of experience working in physical education (PE), witnessing first hand the “importance of movement, physical education and sport and how that can impact on people’s lives”.
While working in PE, Carl says he spotted a gap in terms of producing premium sportswear and spotted how things could be improved if “you were to add X, Y and Z in terms of features”.
The 44-year-old used to teach Joe PE “many years ago” at Archbishop Beck High School. Joe later qualified as a teacher himself and ended up working alongside Carl.
Carl told the ECHO: “We got to the point and it was back end of 23, where me and Joe had a discussion and we spoke about setting up our own sportswear brand for some time. We either do it or we just put it to bed. I’m a great believer of that ‘say it, do it’ sort of philosophy. So we made the decision to start looking into a brand, you know, a name for the brand, which we did.
Joe Conchie (left) and Carl Giles, owners of Velozia Sportswear at Jayde Spa gym(Image: Iain Watts)
“We work with a designer, so everything’s designed from scratch. It’s not a case of getting some off-the-shelf product and putting a label on it. Our ethos is very much about shaping people’s lives through movement. The focus of the clothing is obviously, first and foremost, it’s got to look good, feel good. If people don’t like the design, people won’t obviously click on your website or they won’t click on your Instagram page or they won’t pick it up off a coat hanger so we’re focusing on premium fabrics.”
Velozia launched with five items including performance t-shirts, running shorts and trainers. The brand has since expanded its collections over the past few months and set up a run club in partnership with Crosby Coffee and Caffeine x Endorphins which they host once a month on a Sunday.
They also became the main clothing sponsor for the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament and the main sponsor for the British Fitness Awards.
Carl added: “It’s getting out there, being on the ground, meeting people, telling them about the brand, you know, because at the moment, we’re online. We’re a new brand. People might be a little bit uncertain in terms of wearing the products.
Carl Giles (left) and Joe Conchie, owners of Velozia Sportswear, at Jayde Spa gym(Image: Iain Watts)
“We’ve streamlined what sports we think align with us. So we’re very much focusing on functional fitness, HYROX, and running. We will focus moving forward on tennis and paddle.
“So athletes-wise, we’re making a big impact in the HYROX world with our athletes. So same again, one of the first ambassadors we brought on board was a lad called Lee Tynan. He actually broke the world doubles record a couple of weeks ago in Gdansk with his doubles partner.
“One of our athletes, Luke Greer, he broke the British world record so I’d say that’s an area that we’re starting to make a name for you know, Velozia.
“It’s great just to be bringing well-minded, like-minded people together who just enjoy moving and that’s kind of our tagline is move with purpose. I think that just comes again from mine and Joe’s backgrounds as PE teachers.
“That’s something that we’ve obviously tried to instil in our students or even adults because I’ve worked in further education as well. So I’ve seen an impact on both the younger generation as well as adults, the importance of movement.”
More information on Velozia can be found on its website.