DIGEST: INSIDE SUNSPEL'S FACTORY, THE MAKERS OF THINGS, ARTICLE MAGAZINE, SHOEMAKING

Above, a day in the life of Sunspel's factory in Long Eaton (where M&I visited back in March 2011)

Four very good videos of The Makers of Things - documenting the work and workshops of the Society for Model and Experimental Engineers (via Russell Davies)

Article magazine: 'a celebration of all things British'

A fascinating history of Bovril and its marketing (University of Cambridge)

Terry Smith, envelope cutter at Baddeley Brothers in Hackney (Spitalfields Life)

The Pointe Shoe Makers of Hackney (Spitalfields Life)

The making of Walsh trainers (Make it British)

How a Globe-Trotter suitcase is made (Make it British)

The making of a Private White VC pocket jacket (Port Magazine)

An article on Tanner Krolle in London, from 2011 (The National)

Coloral: a dormant Birmingham cycling brand being given new life (Kickstarter)

A couple of blogs:

The Make Works blog is a joy to keep up with

Norfolk's Old Town has a nice blog that I wasn't previously aware of

*Post updated 6th August 2013

WEEKLY DIGEST

Audio slideshows of British bike builders: Tom Donhou, Sam Humpheson, Rourke Cycles and Ricky Feather (Rapha)

A film on Lincolnshire furniture maker Sebastian Cox (OEN)

Equal Rights for Design campaign (Make it British)

The British Are Coming! Featuring E Tautz, Turnbull & Asser and Alfred Dunhill (WSJ)

Some pictures (by Koto Bolofo) of the factory where Margaret Howell gets her shirts made (Margaret Howell)

Speaking of Howell, an article from 2007 which talks about her home and its aesthetic (Independent)

Luggage company Globe-Trotter featured on the radio (at 38mins) (M24)

A sadly predictable story of the British beer situation at the Olympics (SIBA)

FACTORY VISIT NO. 8: ALFRED DUNHILL, WALTHAMSTOW (PART TWO : MASTER CRAFTSMAN RICK READ)

The Alfred Dunhill factory in Walthamstow, East London, employs several master craftspeople. Rick Read is one of them. Above the main factory floor, in a quiet, well lit room, Rick creates bespoke items of great beauty.

Rick, who hails from south of the River Thames, has worked for Alfred Dunhill for ten years. He started his career in 1966, since when he has created products for the likes of Tanner Krolle and Chanel. Rick served his apprenticeship at Marshall and Company. He explains that company's demise, "they did desk sets and the like. Since desk sets have fallen by the wayside, so have they. More's the pity."

With companies such as Marshalls going out of business and the likes of Tanner Krolle being brought out (by Alfred Dunhill), many of the employees at Alfred Dunhill have worked for a variety of household names. It strikes me as being a very similar story to that which I heard at Globe-Trotter.

We talk to Rick about some of the items he has made over the years. He tells us of his pride at seeing Tanner Krolle briefcases still being used by business people on the tube. The items he makes are made to last.

The reason that the items which Rick and his colleagues make last so long is the attention to detail and understanding of materials. Rick talks us through the prototyping process, where items are mocked up in a cheap material called 'salpa'. "It’s very cheap, you can make the job up, get the proportions right, send it back to the designer, they can draw on it, cut it, do whatever. We’ll probably do another in salpa to check it’s right. Then we’d do one in old leather before the final one in proper leather."

The proper ones are very impressive. Flawless leather goods that are the result of Alfred Dunhill's exacting standards in materials, the craftsman's skill and understanding the customer's needs. Rick tells us about a recently made alligator skin wallet: "It came out so well… It’s like anything you do, if you make the smallest mistake, you’re doing some decorating indoors say, your eye goes to it (the mistake) straight away. This wallet… it was pukka! Spot on. So good he (the customer) wants another one."

While leather goods continue to attract healthy sales, other items no longer have the relevance that they used to. "There were 300 craftsmen making pipes at one point here. You used to go to the football years ago and everyone would be wearing a cap and smoking a pipe!" The pipe business does still exist, under the name White Spot.

Conversation moves on to apprenticeships and education. "All the guys downstairs are all long serving, it’s very hard to get anyone new to do crafts," Rick tells us, "I think the reason is that it costs a lot of money to train someone up and there’s nothing to tie them to that company. They could finish their apprenticeship and go ‘I think I’ll try this on my own’. They could take their skills away. It’s up to the company to make it worthwhile staying."

Rick tells us that he is to retire in a couple of years. They are already looking for his replacement - it is a long process to find the right person. "People want the big bucks. If you go on to an apprenticeship you need to be prepared to be on a low income," Rick says. The person in question would need to 'gel straight away' in the small workshop that Rick shares with Tomasz Nosarzewski (who has taken up a kind of residency over the last year or so at Bourdon House, Dunhill's Mayfair HQ in order to bring the craft closer to the consumer). "They don't need great skills," Rick continues, "it's just a particular fit."

I suggest that it could be tough to find that elusive person, what with the required skills not being taught in schools as they used to be. Rick nods. "The school I went to – there was a drawing office, there was a metal workshop, a wood workshop, a forge… all of these things pushed you in that direction if you weren’t academic. But to do this you have to know drawing, you have to know measurements… you need to know quite a bit before you can actually put those skills in to the hands and do the job."

We talk about the difference between making and designing. "There was a college in Hackney, Cordwainers. But it has moved more towards design… everyone wants to be a designer you know? Design to me... ideas just keep coming around and around. The amount of times I hear someone say ‘oh, we’ve got a great idea, look at this’ and I think ‘oh yeah’ (Rick rolls his eyes) … ‘I think that’s in the cupboard at the bottom!’ These things, they come around, get tweaked up." He has a point.

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All photos by Robin Mellor

WEEKLY DIGEST

UK manufacturing skills a lure for luxury brands (Reuters)

Report compiled by JCB chairman calls for UK 'manufacturing tsar' (FT)

Hand framing at Corgi (The Gentleman's Corner)

An interview with the boss of David Nieper, a nightwear company based in Derbyshire (Telegraph)

Lighting company Thorn announces new UK manufacturing plans (The Manufacturer)

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Photo from Factory Visit no.3 : Globe Trotter

THE MAKING OF A GLOBE-TROTTER SUITCASE

A nice video of the process behind the hardwearing luggage made in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire.

For new readers; I visited the Globe-Trotter factory last year and interviewed creative director Gary Bott.

FACTORY PHOTOS: SEIPEL

M&I found out about Seipel earlier this year; Gary Bott, creative director of Globe Trotter mentioned an old factory producing amazing leather goods. Hopefully a visit can be arranged in the near future, but for now, please enjoy these photographs that Mr Bott kindly sent our way.

A CHAT WITH DAVID, FACTORY MANAGER AT GLOBE TROTTER

During our visit to Globe Trotter in Broxbourne, we were introduced to David, the factory manager. He has worked for the luggage maker for over 25 years. Here is what he told us about the company:

“I was 16 when I started here, it was 1985. We’ve got lots of people who have been here 9-10 years, since we moved here (Broxbourne.) Linda’s been here 18 years. Joe's got 35 years experience; he was working for Custom Cases (an industrial case manufacturer who created designs for British Gas and BT), they bought us when we were down in Smithfield, when Henry Elkin died. We ended up down in Waltham Cross with Mossman Trunks/Custom Cases. When we moved down here we cherry picked the best from Custom Cases and brought them here. When Welwyn Handles was threatened with closure we bought them and moved them down here too."

This is the final post in our series on Globe Trotter. Coming up this week we have the write up of our visit to Brompton bicycle factory in Brentford, London.

INTERVIEW WITH GARY BOTT OF GLOBE TROTTER (PART THREE)

In the third part of our interview with Gary Bott we discuss the manufacturing process of Globe Trotter's luggage, the factory and its workforce, and the challenges of finding craftspeople in modern Britain.

On the Manufacturing Process

"This can’t be automated. That is quite an amazing thing. We feel we have a responsibility to protect the manufacturing side of the business. We have about 26 people working in the factory here, three of us in head office and two in the shop - that’s it for the world. We produce 200 suitcases a week, 10,000 a year. That’s it."

On the Difference Between Globe Trotter's Collections:

"Our Original series doesn’t have leather straps or leather corners, it has vulcanised straps and corners. There are five colour options. With Centenary (pictured above, Hermes edition) - it has leather straps and leather corners and is available in several colours. If we do a special or limited edition suitcases they are always centenary."

On the Joy of Longevity in a Product

"If you’re investing in a Globe Trotter case it will last you a lifetime. How many suitcases does a person need? Two, maybe three maximum. If your Globe Trotter suitcases last a lifetime you have no reason to come back to us. We’re not seasonal. We share this with the likes of Tricker’s and Brooks; once you’ve bought your Tricker’s boots or brogues you don’t tend to buy another pair. If you need to get them resoled you do so. They look better with age, as does a Globe Trotter suitcase or Brooks saddle."

On the Workforce

"We have a lady who has been with us for 40 years who stitches all the handles and straps (pictured below.) Two other ladies help her out. If we didn’t have Linda then we would be starting again. There are two guys who work on moudling the leather corners. The leather is cut into a disc shape, soaked, then pressed on a heavy duty Victorian machine, left to dry for 24 hours, pressed again, repeated. The process has to be started on a Monday. If it is only done four instead of five times it will not be as strong.

David, the factory manager, has been with the company since his teens. He’s only one of three people (the others being the quality assurance manager and production manager) who can do every single job in the factory. This is what our customers buy into."

On Finding Craftsmen

"Finding the person with the right attitude and ability is tough. Age is not so much a factor but in an ideal world you’d want a young apprentice that you could train up and would stay with a company for life. I think that culture isn’t here anymore. We’re of a generation that wants to do all sorts of things.

Geography is also a factor. Finding the right person in London is easier than finding the right person in Hertfordshire or Huddersfield for instance. Your options are limited. We can find someone locally though, most of the poeple who join Globe Trotter stay for a long time. We are always proactive in getting the factory involved, always sharing where the product ends up - whether it be Vogue, GQ or The Sunday Times Style. I think that’s great - when that factory worker is down the pub or meeting someone for the first time - they can say ‘yeah, I make those'."

INTERVIEW WITH GARY BOTT OF GLOBE TROTTER (PART TWO)

Similar to Sunspel, Globe Trotter has achieved great popularity within the Japanese market. Gary Bott told us about the brand's relationship with the country and why Globe Trotter is so popular there.

"In 2002 the Vulcanize store opened in Ayoyama in Tokyo. In 2004 we opened a Macintosh and Globe Trotter store in Burlington Arcade. The owners of Mackintosh invited me to work across both brands. Up until 2004 I hadn’t heard of Globe Trotter. Of course we had a reputation within the luggage industry... but there was very little brand awareness. Our flagship store has really helped us to educate a new audience.

In Japan they took a different view to merchandising Globe Trotter. They started using the cases as an interior design object. A piece of luggage is usually put away, up in the attic. When we launched there, everyone knew that we (the UK) had great tailoring, shoes and so forth, but they weren’t aware of our luggage. The press there are fantastic - whenever they write you up you get 12-14 pages worth of editorial compared to a page or two here, if you’re lucky.

Our distributor in Japan started Vulcanize in 2002. There’s now five of them, the latest being a three storey shop in a premises that Hugo Boss used to be in. They sell Fox Umbrellas, Turnbull & Asser, Tricker’s, Grenson, Miller Harris Perfumes, Jo Malone... all things British. But presented in the right way.

Currently there seems to be alot of brands trading on heritage - whether they genuinely have it or if they are looking to create heritage out of nothing, like Heritage Research. Nigel Cabourn is a really interesting one, over the last few years he has become incredibly popular.

I think it comes from Japan - there’s an appreciation of heritage and craftsmanship (in Japan.) There’s also the appreciation for something that is niche, hard to find."

For more pictures taken inside the Globe Trotter factory please visit the M&I Facebook page

AN INTERVIEW WITH GARY BOTT OF GLOBE TROTTER (PART ONE)

M&I visited Globe Trotter's factory in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire in early March. Spending a few hours with Gary Bott, creative director of the luxury luggage brand, was one of the highlights of our year so far. Bott proved to be highly knowledgeable on both Globe Trotter's history and the current state of UK made brands.

After catching the train from Liverpool Street in London to Broxbourne (a journey of approximately 25 minutes) we cycled the short distance from the station to the factory, situated on a small industrial estate.

We spent the first couple of hours sat in the foyer of Globe Trotter's headquarters with Mr Bott, discussing everything from British men's design needs to the struggle of finding quality craftsmen. As we sat chatting, our conversation was punctuated by the comings and goings of customers who had dropped by to pick up repaired luggage. Each was greeted by David, the factory manager, and told about the work his team had done. This is the level of service that Globe Trotter gives its loyal customer base, and goes some way to explain why it has such a reputation.

First off we talked about what makes Globe Trotter luggage unique:

"Vulcanised fibreboard is the DNA of the Globe Trotter brand. It’s as strong as leather, as light as aluminium. Up to 80-100 years ago there were other luggage manufacturers using that material, but Globe Trotter is the only UK luggage manufacturer using vulcanised fibreboard today. There is a very old manufacturer in Sweden, called Alstermo Bruk, but they use a material which contains some plastic. We don’t use any plastic, ours is just fourteen layers of paper."

Then on to what British manufacturing stands for today:

"You might think Savile Row for tailoring, Tricker’s for footwear... then you’ve got new guys like Mr Hare coming through. Apart from tailoring and footwear what have we got? You think beautiful handbags and you think Italy. Beautiful small leather goods and you think France. Premium streetwear and denim, you might think Japan. Alot of manufacturing in this country - you do one thing well and use that as a springboard. You look at Brooks for instance, there’s a reason why people covet their saddles."

Part Two of our interview with Mr Bott will be coming soon (honest, it will be.)

Photos of our visit to Globe Trotter's factory are on the M&I Facebook page.

FACTORY VISIT NO.3 : GLOBE TROTTER, BROXBOURNE

We had the pleasure of meeting with Gary Bott of the classic luggage maker, Globe Trotter last Friday.

Both the interviews from our visits last week are in the process of being written up (transcribing always seems to take more time than you think.) In the meantime, please feel free to browse the photos taken on our most recent visit to the HQ of Globe Trotter in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire.

UPCOMING FACTORY VISITS : SUNSPEL (DERBYSHIRE) & GLOBE TROTTER (HERTFORDSHIRE)

We have two factory visits lined up this week, both of which we are very much looking forward to. On Thursday we are heading to the East Midlands, Long Eaton to be precise, to visit classic clothing manufacturer Sunspel. Following this, on Friday we are heading south, to Broxbourne in Hertfordshire to visit Globe Trotter, a luxury luggage company.

Please get in touch (either by leaving a comment below, by email or via our Facebook page) if you have any questions that you would like M&I to ask.

Globe Trotter label from M&I's photo album of our first factory visit to Stevenage Knitting Company.Sunspel label from Sunspel's blog