All Mix Blog

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 ...

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...

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 .

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

Meanwhile, in the Midlands, Kammac, the only manufacturer of giant 100 litre casks is reporting brisk business. Due to small real ale breweries popping up all over the land, demand is the highest it has been for some time. Speaking on the local BBC news , (what M&I presume is) a spokesman for Kammac said, 'any publican who is not selling a local real ale could be missing out on a real business winner here.' According to the BBC report almost 2,500 British pubs closed last year, at the rate of 39 a week. However, brewers are reporting positive results: a 17% increase in turnover last year and a 4% increase in production during the recession. Can the UK's real ale boom mirror the craft beer revolution in the US? We sincerely hope so.

Nice interview with Sir Paul Smith by Simon Usborne in The Independent on Monday. Here's a small extract: "I look at this bike (a Mercian) and see something that was handmade in England by a small business," Smith says. "And that's something I mourn – the fact that there are now so few small companies like that. I worry about the pressure young people feel to earn a certain amount of money or to achieve a certain status. To be a stonemason and only to carve as much stone as your hands can manage isn't attractive anymore." Image of early 1980s Mercian catalogue cover from Chris 531 on Flickr