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Connolly Leather Limited was a British company that supplied highly finished leather primarily to car manufacturers. Founded in 1878, it went out of business in that form in 2002. A successor firm, Connolly Brothers, UK, has resumed producing traditional Connolly leather products and lines, including its popular Vaumol.
Connolly supplied most of the leather for the British car industry, including Aston Martin & Lagonda, Rolls-Royce & Bentley, Jaguar & Daimler, Vauxhall Motors and Rover cars including its Land Rover and its Range Rover line of vehicles as well as some MG and Mini models during the Rover Group era. Non-British makes included Ferrari, Maserati, Lincoln, Nissan and Honda. This leather was also used for the seats in the Supermarine Spitfires used in World War 2[ citation needed ].
Connolly leather gained such prominence in the world of luxury travel beyond cars, such as private jets and yachts, that it was selected for high profile projects as Concorde and the Queen Elizabeth 2 ocean liner.
Connolly also reached the world of interiors and design, with Mies Van Der Rohe's original Barcelona chairs upholstered with Connolly leather as well as the benches in Britain's Houses of Parliament together with many other parliaments around the world. Connolly earned a Royal Warrant, being appointed Leather Tanners and Curriers to Queen Elizabeth II.
In addition to upholstery, Connolly Leather has been used in the manufacture of high-end sound audio components such as the B&W Signature 800 series loudspeakers as an expression of the quality and luxury status of the item. Connolly Leather was also used by Luxman and "retro-design" transistor radios from British manufacturer Roberts.
The family started a retail business, Connolly Luxury Leathergoods Limited, selling exclusive and bespoke leather goods and accessories. The business developed a high profile clientele which included celebrities, socialites and industry leaders. Today, Connolly accessory designs can be found in museums around the world.
The company also sold leather-care products (e.g., Connolly Hide-Food); restoring leather is sometimes known as "Connollising", thanks to the reputation of the company.
An attempt to expand into the American market in the 1990s failed badly and Connolly Leather ceased trading in June 2002. [1] [2]
In 2003, Jonathan Connolly established C B Leather Ltd and resumed the manufacture and production of high quality leather and now sells under both C B Leather and Connolly Brothers, UK.
The recipes to Connolly Hide-Food and their Leather-Cleaner have since been sold or licensed and have returned to the market.
Jaguar is the sports car and luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar cars until its operations were fully merged with those of Land Rover to form Jaguar Land Rover on 1 January 2013.
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A luxury car is a car that provides above-average to high-end levels of comfort, features, and equipment. Often more expensive materials and surface finishes are used, and buyers expect better build quality. The usually higher pricing and more upscale appearance is often associated with higher social status of the users, compared to low and mid-market segment cars.
The Rover Company Limited was a British car manufacturing company that operated from its base in Solihull, Warwickshire. Its lasting reputation for quality and performance was such that its first postwar model reviewed by Road & Track in 1952 was pronounced finer than any but a Rolls-Royce. Rover also manufactured the Land Rover series from 1948 onwards, which spawned the Range Rover in 1970, and went on to become its most successful and profitable product — with Land Rover eventually becoming a separate company and brand in its own right.
British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly nationalised in 1975, when the UK government created a holding company called British Leyland, later renamed BL in 1978. It incorporated much of the British-owned motor vehicle industry, which in 1968 had a 40% share of the UK car market, with its history going back to 1895. Despite containing profitable marques such as Jaguar, Rover, and Land Rover, as well as the best-selling Mini, BLMC had a troubled history, leading to its eventual collapse in 1975 and subsequent part-nationalisation.
The Rover Group plc was the British vehicle manufacturing conglomerate known as "BL plc" until 1986, which had been a state-owned company since 1975. It initially included the Austin Rover Group car business, Land Rover Group, Freight Rover vans and Leyland Trucks. The Rover Group also owned the dormant trademarks from the many companies that had merged into British Leyland and its predecessors such as Triumph, Morris, Wolseley, Riley and Alvis.
Vanden Plas is the name of coachbuilders who produced bodies for specialist and up-market automobile manufacturers. Latterly the name became a top-end luxury model designation for cars from subsidiaries of British Leyland and the Rover Group, being last used in 2009 to denote the top-luxury version of the Jaguar XJ (X350).
The Rootes Group or Rootes Motors Limited was a British automobile manufacturer and, separately, a major motor distributors and dealers business. Run from London's West End, the manufacturer was based in the Midlands and the distribution and dealers business in the south of England. In the decade beginning 1928 the Rootes brothers, William and Reginald, made prosperous by their very successful distribution and servicing business, were keen to enter manufacturing for closer control of the products they were selling. One brother has been termed the power unit, the other the steering and braking system.
The Austin Rover Group was a British motor manufacturer. It was created in 1982 as the mass-market car manufacturing subsidiary of British Leyland (BL). Previously, this entity had been known as BL Cars Ltd which encompassed the Austin-Morris and Jaguar-Rover-Triumph divisions of British Leyland. After a major restructuring of BL's car manufacturing operations, Jaguar regained its independence whilst the Triumph and Morris marques were retired. The new, leaner car business was rechristened as the Austin Rover Group and focused primarily on the Austin and Rover marques. The Morris and Triumph marques continued briefly within ARG until 1984 when both were dropped.
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Shoemaking is the process of making footwear.
Wilkinson Sword is a formerly British brand for razors and other personal care products sold in Europe, owned by the US company Edgewell Personal Care. The company was founded as a manufacturer of guns made in Shotley Bridge in County Durham, by Henry Nock in London in 1772.
Ostrich leather is the result of tanning skins taken from African ostriches farmed for their feathers, skin and meat. The leather is distinctive for its pattern of bumps or vacant quill follicles, ranged across a smooth field in varying densities. It requires an intricate, specialised and expensive production process making its aesthetic value costly.
The term designer label refers to clothing, luxury automobile manufacturers and other personal accessory items sold under an often prestigious marque which is commonly named after a designer, founder, or a location-like where the company was founded. The term is most often applied to luxury goods. While members of the upper middle class, or the mass affluent, are perhaps the most commonly targeted customers of these designer labels, some marquees—such as Cartier, Rolex, Montblanc and the haute couture — tend to a wealthier customer base. But almost every designer brand has merchandise that the middle-class wouldn't normally be able to afford, such as exotic skins, furs and hides, limited edition pieces, or things simply priced higher. Designer label companies use their smaller and cheaper merchandise, aimed at the middle class, such as wallets, fashion jewellery, key-rings and small accessories, to make the majority of their income, whilst the more expensive pieces such as haute couture, high jewellery, hand-bags, shoes and even furnishings are usually reserved for the wealthier upper-class clientele.
Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC is the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover Limited, also known as JLR, and is a British multinational automobile manufacturer which produces luxury vehicles and sport utility vehicles and has its head office in Whitley, Coventry, UK. The principal activity of Jaguar Land Rover Limited is the design, development, manufacture and sale of vehicles bearing the Jaguar and Land Rover marques.
Hield Bros, or simply Hield, is an English textile manufacturer and retailer of men's clothing and luxury goods. The company was established in 1922. In addition to manufacturing cloth for its own suits, Hield produces cloth for many labels and has supplied the upholstery used in Queen Elizabeth II's custom Bentley State Limousine.
Royal warrants of appointment have been issued since the 15th century to those who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the royal family, thereby lending prestige to the brand and/or supplier. In the United Kingdom, grants are usually made by the monarch, spouse, and heir apparent to companies or tradespeople who supply goods and services to individuals in the family.
S.B. Foot Tanning Company is a leather production facility located in Red Wing, Minnesota. It processes leather for use in the crafting of shoes, boots, belts, and leather accessories. In 2010, the factory processed nearly 6 million linear feet of hides. S.B. Foot Tanning Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Red Wing Shoes Company, Inc. and is the principal supplier of leather to their shoe manufacturing plants. The company also supplies over 1.5 million linear feet of leather for use in the production of military footwear per year, extending a tradition that began with World War I, when the tannery supplied boot leathers for the construction of soldier boots.
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The Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade (Export) (2018) was awarded on 20 April 2018, by Queen Elizabeth II.