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

DIGEST: LAST UK BUTTON MANUFACTURER CLOSES, MOULTON, SIR KENNETH GRANGE, FACTORY VISITS

Great designers in the news:

Alex Moulton, engineer and designer, passed away earlier this month (Dezeen)

Kenneth Grange knighted (BBC)

Factory visits:

A visit to the Gloverall factory in Wellingborough (Proper Mag)

Inside the Private White V.C. factory (Cool Hunting)

At bicycle component manufacturer Royce, in Hampshire (Headset Press)

Steve Salter visits the Sunspel factory in Long Eaton (Port Magazine)

News items:

The shock collapse of the last British button manufacturer (Halesowen News)

Why are British factories turning away business? (Make it British)

Raspberry PI and the UK manufacturing resurgence (Wired)

On livery companies: British institutions (FT)

On skills shortages among young workers (Economist)

A piano maker tells of Thatcher's impact on UK piano manufacturing (Port Magazine)

Ale and cider:

The history of cider in the UK (Hot Rum Cow, ps 13-16)

Britain's lost breweries and beers (The Good Stuff)

Event:

David Hieatt (of Hiut Denim) to talk in London on Tuesday 15th January (YCN)

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Photo of Moulton bike from Dezeen

WEEKLY DIGEST

The week's stories on UK manufacturing and design:

Once Was England visits Church's factory in Northampton

Lotus cuts jobs at Norfolk factory

James Dyson's favourite design of all time is the Moulton bicycle

Port magazine goes where M&I has been before; Sunspel's factory in Long Eaton

The Manufacturer ponders the 'revival of made in Britain'

The Made in Britain blog talks socks

And finally, House of Hackney gets some nice coverage on WSJ

Photo from Once Was England

AN INTERVIEW WITH NICHOLAS BROOKE OF SUNSPEL (PART TWO)

Sunspel and What it Stands For

“We think of ourselves as two things. Number one: The British jersey experts. We have developed, over the last 150 years, a number of fabrics that are unique. We are innovators in fabric development. Number two: We are manufacturers - cut and sew manufacturers in England. That is pretty rare. We're probably the last brand that manufactures cut and sew products in the UK from our own factory. There are other brands that dabble with making in the UK but they don't own the factories. The factory is not the core of the business.

When we grow the range we focus on those two things - is it a jersey and is it a cut and sew product? We do make certain items abroad, our boxer shorts for instance, but we have maintained the core here. I think a lot of other brands made a mistake in shifting all of their production abroad.”

The Creative Director

“He (J.W Anderson) loves our product. He is fundamentally a product guy at heart. He knows that what he does is about fashion but he knows that when he comes here and works with us we keep it simple. A lot of the stuff that he produces for menswear is made in the UK so there is a good synergy.”


Sunspel Mens and Sunspel Boxer

"When Peter Hill came back to run the business after the war, his elder brother was still living in Europe and he was a journalist. He then came back 5/6 years later. Then they fell out. So they decided to split the business between Sunspel Menswear and Sunspel Boxer. Peter, the guy we bought from, kept menswear and John had boxer.

Then, in the 80s, when the Levi's ad came out Boxer did really well. Because everybody started doing boxers; Marks & Spencer and so forth, the boxer side of the business effectively closed down.

When John, the brother, died, Peter bought the remaining business off of John's son. But he never really liked the boxers. I remember when we came up to speak to Peter, he said to me "what kind of underwear do you wear?" And I replied, "well boxers...briefs, a bit of both." And he responded, "Boxers. Nasty things!"

Photos of our visit are here. The informative Sunspel blog is here.

AN INTERVIEW WITH NICHOLAS BROOKE OF SUNSPEL (PART ONE)

Earlier this month M&I visited the Sunspel factory in Long Eaton, Derbyshire. Whilst there we met with Nicholas Brooke, the director of the company since he and business partner, Dominic Hazlehurst took over 5 and a half years ago.

Theirs is a tale of investing in a factory that was steeped in history and tradition – so much so that everything financial was still done on a ledger when they took over. We discussed the story of Sunspel, textile manufacturing in the East Midlands, and why Japan is so important to them. Over the next few days we will be publishing some extracts of our conversation.

Taking Over

“The business started in 1860 and until 1937 the factory was in Russell St in Nottingham. I’ve known Sunspel since I was about 12 or 13, when I bought my first pair of boxer shorts. My wife's aunt is the companion of the previous owner, Peter Hill, who was part of the family who started the business. My wife’s aunt would say that ‘Peter does not want to sell the company to someone who will offshore it.’ I had been chatting to Dominic for a while about starting a business and we thought it would be a great opportunity to reestablish an old English brand.

In this room (a meeting room directly above the factory) there were four ladies who were the accounts department. Everything was done in handwritten ledgers. Then there was a final lady who had a very old computer on her desk, and as the ledgers came round she then typed them into her computer, which was wiped clean at the end of every year.

The biggest challenge has been that everything here has a massive legacy. We were careful not to chuck it all away though, because if you chuck it all away I think you lose what is ultimately the core of the brand... and then you might as well be making cheap t-shirts.

When we took over everything that was being done was very old fashioned... but we had this business with Japan which was all about slim cut coloured t-shirts."

Japan and The Japanese Consumer

“A Japanese guy went into Harrods or Selfridges... bought some underwear... and thought, ‘my, this is an amazing t-shirt. If I could do this in Japan…’ So he contacted Peter Hill to see if he could have some t-shirts made. Peter went there once... but I don't think he realised that we are in some of the best shops that you can get into.

The Japanese really understand the purity and quality of the product. What they love is; the fact that it is made in Britain, the fact that it is long staple Egyptian cotton and the fact that it is made really beautifully and it lasts. I think the UK consumer is getting closer to the way the Japanese consumer's way of thinking.”

Photos of our visit are here. The informative Sunspel blog is here.

Part two of the interview will follow shortly.

FACTORY VISIT NO.2 : SUNSPEL, LONG EATON

Last Thursday we spent a couple of hours delving into the archives at Sunspel's factory in Long Eaton, Derbyshire. Whilst there we also nipped round the buzzing factory. A full write up of our time with Nicholas Brooke of the classic underwear and clothing brand will follow here shortly, but for now, please feel free to browse some of our photos of the visit on Manufacture & Industry's Facebook page.

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