This week on the Abbey England Podcraft, we speak with Fashion Designer and Owner of luxury leathergoods

We discuss how Mimi organically grew her business from a market stall in Spitalfields, to an international established brand, why she’s an advocate for vegetable tanned leathers as well as speaking honestly about the pros and cons of making in the UK.

We talk takeovers, teaching, plans for Patrick Saddlery and some solid advice to those who are looking to maintain a career in saddler. After 33 years in the saddlery business, we think Les is more than qualified to speak on this!

This week on the Abbey England Podcraft, we speak with The Worshipful Company of Saddlers, Prime Warden, Hugh Taylor.

Hugh tells us all about the help and funding available The Worshipful Saddlers Company offer, including their fully funded Bayes Business School course, as well as some key advice for businesses who are struggling in the current

A big thanks to Hugh for giving up his time and speaking with us.

To kick off season 4, we wanted to deliver a follow-up

For our regular listeners, you might notice we look different and sound different. We fancied a change, and we hope you like it.

Today’s episode discusses the most recent changes Abbey  England has undertaken, the reasons why and impact this will have on all of our stakeholders. Hear directly from Abbey England’s MD, Richard Brown.

Pittards Leather is the leading leather manufacturer for performance leathers. Since 1826, they have consistently developed and supplied various industries with the leathers they need, in order to perform.  In this episode, we speak with their Director of Marketing, Debbie Burton and discuss how Pittards technologies have adapted over the years including their WR100 technology. Debbie also shares with us their thorough research and development process and, finally, their ongoing commitment to sustainability. For more information on Pittards commitment to sustainability, please follow the link.

It is estimated that 7.3 million tonnes of waste from the global food industry could go to landfill if the leather industry did not upcycle hides and skins into leather. Pittards uses only hides and skins that are a by-product of the food industry and through versatile manufacturing turns them into leathers that can be used in a wide range of products, from gloves and footwear to apparel, upholstery and saddlery.

In this episode, we speak to Paul Vincent, Co-Owner of S.E.H. Kelly. A timeless menswear brand, producing enduring utility garments. What makes them stand out from other British Brands? Well, these guys source all their materials from the British Isles and behind each supplier, is a unique maker's story.  We discuss with Paul the reasons for setting up a luxury menswear brand off the back of the 2008 economic collapse and what it takes to be a source and manufacture in

S.E.H Kelly, in our opinion, is the epitome of a true British brand.

In this episode, we speak to Michael Kilger, owner of Kilger Tannery in Germany. Kilger Tannery has been around since 1856 and now form part of the vertical supply chain to Sedgwick Leather.  In this episode, we sit down with Michael to discuss Kilger’s tanning process, how they filter out only the best hides for Sedgwick Leather and peoples' biggest misconception about the leather industry.

Listen now to episode 2 and if you like what you hear, please subscribe for more.

To kickstart 2023 and Season 3, we speak with the British Equestrian Trade Association’s (BETA) Executive Director and Secretary, Claire Williams. 

With over 800 members, BETA is the official representative body for the equestrian manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade.

We discuss the importance of the BETA symbol, what it means to be a member, how the representative body maintains industry standards and what you can expect from BETA International 2023.

In this episode, we also touch on The National Equestrian Survey. If you have a few spare minutes, we invite you to complete this questionnaire via the link below.

https://online1.snapsurveys.com/interview/eaa95700-e9ce-449f-ad41-40e189aee67a

In this episode, we celebrate our 40th Anniversary with Abbey England’s CEO, Richard Brown. Richard starts from the very beginning and tells us how Abbey England started round his parent’s kitchen table. We also discuss the positives and negatives of working with 11 family members across 3 generations, as well as the biggest challenges and achievements Abbey has faced so far.