Getting through the plague: a rather rambling story of how the Worshipful Company of Glovers of London were given their 1638 Charter by Charles I, King of Great Britain and Ireland (1625-1649) True to the times it is said that the Black Death, or at least the most significant outbreak of it, originated in China […]
Personal thoughts on the history of the Glovers Company of London
This is the approximate content of a talk to the Worshipful Company of Glovers of London in February 2019 Master, Wardens, Baroness, Visiting Masters, Worthy and Learned Clerk, Guests, Citizens and Glovers. It is amazing to think that in the City of London, a place that has been so dominated by men over the last […]
Marketing is about the stories that you tell
POSTED ON AUGUST 13, 2018 Getting you story right Today I was delighted to be observing the Clerk of the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers being awarded a Fellowship of the University of Northampton at their July Degree ceremonies, to the obvious delight of their Chancellor, The Rev. Richard Coles who grew up locally in a […]
Getting your story right
Today I was delighted to be observing the Clerk of the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers being awarded a Fellowship of the University of Northampton at their July Degree ceremonies, to the obvious delight of their Chancellor, The Rev. Richard Coles who grew up locally in a leather footwear family. The Reverend Coles gives every impression […]
Philip Roth had a good glove teacher
When Philip Roth wrote about the glove industry he did good research, and anyone keen to learn about gloves, particularly the dress glove business, should definitely read this book. Roth travelled to that most famous American city of gloves – Gloversville – in up state New York and met with senior, experienced glove industry experts […]
Heading to Japan
After a week in Shanghai at the All China Leather Exhibition a trip to the traditional area of Japan (watch this video to see what I am going to be looking for) is quite contrast. Being in Shanghai at this time is to be absolutely at the leading edge of the commercial and technical changes […]
Restarting the Museum of Leathercraft
POSTED ON JULY 18, 2014 The Museum of Leathercraft All of the Honorary Leather Graduates at this week’s ceremonies studied last century and some come from the days when leather teaching in the UK had three Campuses. Leeds University, Leathersellers in London and Northampton. It was in the 70s when they all got combined into […]
Africa then and now
POSTED ON FEBRUARY 17, 2014 Out of Africa I do not know how many times over about the last thirty years I have stood in the balcony of a room at the Addis Hilton to look of the town. The sounds and the smells are just the same but two big differences stand out. Nearly […]
Alumni are important and Innovation in the leather industry
POSTED ON JULY 8, 2013 Two items below The Value of Alumni When I was working on helping the Pakistan Government update their strategy for the leather industry a few years ago I had the opportunity to visit large numbers of tanneries and shoe factories. What was astonishing was that in factory after factory I […]
Leather Technology in the 13th century
We talk loudly today about leather being a high performance material, but it has clearly been a key material in many technologies going back millenia. My university tutor, Stanley Briggs, used to enjoy telling us that leather had been a vital element in almost every aspect of the development of civiliation. It had been used […]