WEEKLY DIGEST

The umbrella maker, the dairyman and the bag seller (Spitalfields Life)

Tim Little of Grenson interview (Rapha)

Little also features in this piece on the 'resurgence' of British made shoes (Telegraph)

Succinct overview on the history of Leicester's Pantherella sock company (Tweed Pig)

The BBC spent budget day in a well known bicycle factory in the Midlands (Pashley)

Meanwhile, a Bath based brewer gives his reaction to Osborne's beer duty rise (SIBA)

Rapha to work with six British bike frame builders on the UK Continental (Rapha)

Trunki, the brand of wheeled suitcases for children, is to move its manufacturing to Britain (Bristol Business News)

An informative piece on Falmouth's furniture designers and makers (Telegraph)

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Photograph by Colin O'Brien for Spitalfields Life

QUOTE : TIM LITTLE, CREATIVE DIRECTOR & OWNER OF GRENSON

"Our founder, William Green... had begun by travelling to London and taking orders from the finest shops of the time. He would then come back to Rushden and give the work to the craftsmen who all worked from home. When each part of the shoe was ready he would pick them up and take them to the next house where the next phase of the process was completed. After a few years his business had grown enough to create the need for a factory where the workers could come in and work together in a production line, thus making the process quicker and more efficient. We are currently in his second factory, that he built in 1895. "William Green and son" was shortened to Grenson at the start of the 20th century amid a fashion for "brand names"."

Taken from Tenue de Nimes, Issue 8

Photo from Harrison A

A COLLABORATION BETWEEN GRENSON & BARBOUR

"There are many collaborations around at the moment and some of them don't make a lot of sense. But I think that with Grenson and Barbour, it's so rare that you get two wonderful companies that started around the same sort of time, producing a different product but selling to the same kind of customer and with the same integrity and quality."

Tim Little, owner of Grenson

TENUE DE NIMES X GRENSON - VIDEO

An informative tour of the Grenson factory courtesy of Tenue de Nimes. We enjoyed from 8mins onwards and especially valued the contribution made by the gentleman in the blue jumper.

*Thanks to Menno van Meurs for alerting us to the video's existence.

TENUE DE NIMES X GRENSON

We admire the work of Amsterdam based Tenue de Nimes and are looking forward to seeing their collaboration with Grenson. We understand that the boots pictured above will be available at the end of January.

Grenson's manufacturing process takes place in Rushden, where the Tenue de Nimes team were fortunate enough to pay a visit recently. Click on the title for more.

GRENSON

The people behind Journal de Nimes were fortunate enough to visit the Grenson factory in Rushden, Northamptonshire, yesterday. We look forward to seeing a full report of the visit in their publication due out next year.