| Industry | Clothmaking |
|---|---|
| Founded | Wellington, Somerset, (1772) Present entity, (1996) |
| Founder | Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution |
| Owner | Deborah Meaden (shareholder) & Douglas Cordeaux (shareholder) |
Number of employees | 37 |
Fox Brothers & Co is a clothmaker based in Wellington, Somerset, England. The company is one of the few working cloth mills still producing cloth entirely in England since 1772, [1] although the present company was incorporated in 1996. [2]
Fox Brothers originated in the clothier business of the Were family of Wellington. Their headquarters were at Trade Court, South Street, Wellington; they also owned two fulling mills. [3] In 1768, Thomas Were's 21-year-old grandson Thomas Fox (1747-1821) joined the company, becoming partner in 1772 and sole proprietor in 1796. [3] He introduced the FOX cloth mark and changed the name of the company (Fox Brothers from 1826). [3] Thomas and his wife Sarah Smith, built in 1807, then lived in, Tone Dale House, Wellington – the house is still lived in by Ben Fox, five generations later. [3] During the Industrial Revolution the company brought wool sorting, spinning, drying and weaving under one roof. [4] It once owned nine mills, including Tonedale Mills and Tone Works, and employed nearly 5,000 workers. [5] During the First World War it won a War Office contract to provide 852 miles (1,371 km) of khaki coloured cloth for military puttees.
Fox Brothers makes wool, worsted, cashmere and was the original creator of flannel for use in suitmaking and held the Trademark for 'Flannel' up to the 1950s. [1] [5] [6] The company uses looms which are 50 years old and maintains a pattern archive dating back to its foundation, said to be 'one of the most significant textile (company) archives in the British Isles'. [5] [6] Fox Brothers has made cloth for the suits of several famous people including flannel for Bob Hope, chalkstripe for Winston Churchill and Prince of Wales check for the Duke of Windsor. [5] Hollywood legend Cary Grant was often photographed wearing Fox Flannel, at a time when leading men were expected to provide their own wardrobe for the films in which they starred. [7]
Fox Brothers has won two Queen's Awards. The first was won in 1966, the year the award scheme was founded, for their export sales. [8] The second was in 2006 in recognition of them manufacturing the world's lightest weight wool and cashmere flannel. [6] The company released new versions of one of their 1782 pattern flannels for the Autumn/Winter 2007 season, using all British wool. [9]
In June 2009, investor Deborah Meaden who features on Dragons' Den , purchased a majority stake. [1] [10] Meaden grew up in the area, living 10 miles (16 km) from the factory, [1] [5] while Meaden's husband went to school with two members of the Fox family, the original owners. [10]
With Managing director Jack Hudson looking to retire, [7] in November 2009, Douglas Cordeaux and Meaden bought the company, with Meaden taking 80% and Cordeaux 20%. Cordeaux, formerly of Pepe Jeans, [1] today functions as managing director. [1] [5] [10] Meaden is not involved with the day-to-day running of the company, but devises business strategy. [5] [10] Meaden will attempt to consolidate the firms established position in Japan, Italy and the UK, whilst expanding into the United States market. [1]
The company currently employs twenty five people, an increase since Meaden and Cordeaux became joint owners. In 2011, Fox appointed two full-time apprentices to ensure traditional skills are handed down to a new generation. One will complete his apprenticeship at Fox; the second apprentice will split his training between Fox Brothers and Jack Wills.
The company presently supplies designer Ralph Lauren, Gieves & Hawkes, and Savile Row tailoring houses, Huntsman, Dege & Skinner, Anderson & Sheppard and Henry Poole, the official founder of Savile Row. [1] [5] The company collaborated in 2010 with shoe retailer Clarks to make cloth for its classic desert boot for the Spring/Summer 2010 season. [4] and Mackintosh included a stylish raincoat made from Fox fabric in the collection on display in their first ever shop, opened in London's prestigious Mount Street at the start of 2011. Lock & Co., founded 1676, is using Fox cloth extensively in its 'Lock & Roll' men's wear collection for Spring/Summer 2011. All but one of the caps in the collection are made from Fox cloth, following the success of the Autumn/Winter caps made from Fox fabrics, which it launched in 2010.
In October 2011, Fox Brothers and a network of British manufacturers launched 'The Merchant Fox', a website selling British-made luxury goods with proven provenance.
Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parish in Somerset, England, some 16 miles (26 km) south-west of Bath, 18 miles (29 km) south of Bristol and 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. Mendip District Council was based there. The Mendip Hills lie to the north and the River Sheppey runs through the town, as does the route of the Fosse Way, the main Roman road between north-east and south-west England. There is evidence of Roman settlement. Its listed buildings include a medieval parish church. Shepton Mallet Prison was England's oldest, but closed in March 2013. The medieval wool trade gave way to trades such as brewing in the 18th century. It remains noted for cider production. It is the closest town to the Glastonbury Festival and nearby the Royal Bath and West of England Society showground.
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the Bishops of Winchester. Parts of the inner ward house were turned into the Museum of Somerset and Somerset Military Museum. For the Second Cornish uprising of 1497, Perkin Warbeck brought an army of 6,000; most surrendered to Henry VII on 4 October 1497. On 20 June 1685 in Taunton the Duke of Monmouth crowned himself King of England in a rebellion, defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor. Judge Jeffreys led the Bloody Assizes in the Castle's Great Hall.
The River Tone is a river in the English county of Somerset. The river is about 33 kilometres (21 mi) long. Its source is at Beverton Pond near Huish Champflower in the Brendon Hills, and is dammed at Clatworthy Reservoir. The reservoir outfall continues through Taunton and Curry and Hay Moors, which are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Finally, it flows into the River Parrett at Burrowbridge.
Wellington is a market town in Somerset, England. It is situated 7 miles (11 km) south west of Taunton, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the town. The town had a population of 14,549, which includes the residents of the parish of Wellington Without, and the villages of Tone and Tonedale.
Milverton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated in the valley of the River Tone 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Taunton. The village has a population of 1,438. The parish includes the hamlet of Preston Bowyer.
Langford Budville is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated near the River Tone 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Wellington, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) from Wiveliscombe and 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Taunton. The parish includes the hamlets of Bindon, Lower Chipley, Lower Wellisford, Ramsey and Runnington. The parish has a population of 535.
Fox, Fowler, and Company was a British private bank, based in Wellington, Somerset. The company was founded in 1787 as a supplementary business to the main activities of the Fox family, sheep-herding and wool-making.
Deborah Sonia Meaden is a British businessperson and TV personality who ran a multimillion-pound family holiday business, before completing a management buyout. She is best known for her appearances as a 'Dragon' on the BBC business programme Dragons' Den.
H. Huntsman & Sons is a high-end fashion house and tailor located at No. 11 Savile Row, London. It is known for its English bespoke menswear tailoring, cashmere ready-to-wear collections, and leather accessories.
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.
Moxon Huddersfield Ltd is a high-end British textile manufacturer of luxury worsted and woollen suiting fabrics. It is located at Yew Tree Mills, Holmbridge, near Holmfirth, Kirklees in Yorkshire.
Arkwright Mill, Rochdale is a cotton spinning mill in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. It was built in 1885 by the Arkwright Cotton Spinning Co. It was taken over by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in the 1930s and passed to Courtaulds in 1964. It was located next to Dale Mill on Roch Street. The ring and doubling frames were made by Howard & Bullough, Accrington. The mill closed in 1980, was demolished in 2007 and the land redeveloped for housing.
Malta Mill, Middleton is a former cotton spinning mill in the Mills Hill area of Chadderton, Greater Manchester. It lies alongside the Rochdale Canal. It was built in 1904 as a new mule mill, by F. W. Dixon The engine stopped in 1963. The building still stands.
Tone Dale House is a Grade II listed country house built in 1801 or 1807 by Thomas Fox in Wellington, Somerset, England. Wellington lies 7 miles (11 km) west of Taunton in the vale of Taunton Deane, 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Devon border. Tone Dale House, also known as House of Fox, offers views of Somerset which include the Quantock hills to the north and the Blackdown Hills to the south.
The Buses of Somerset is the trading name used by bus operator First South West for services operated in Somerset from its depot in the town of Taunton since 2014. The services were formerly managed as part of First Somerset & Avon.
Coldharbour Mill, near the village of Uffculme in Devon, England, is one of the oldest woollen textile mills in the world, having been in continuous production since 1797. The mill was one of a number owned by Fox Brothers, and is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.
Tonedale Mills, together with the neighbouring Tone Works, is a large textile mill in Wellington, Somerset, and the largest in South West England. Owned for over 200 years by members of the Fox family, it was most famous for the production of 'Taunton serge', and later the khaki cloth and puttees used by the British Army. The mill was established in the middle of the eighteenth century, and thrived during the industrial revolution. At its peak, around 6,500 metres (21,300 ft) of material was produced at the factory each day. The cheap cost of producing fabric in third-world countries contributed to the factory mostly closing during the 1980s, but small-scale production continues on part of the site.
Scabal is a Belgian textile company founded in 1938 by Otto Hertz as a cloth merchant and supplier of fabrics. "Scabal" is an acronym for Société Commerciale Anglo Belgo Allemande Luxembourgeoise.
The woollen industry in Wales was at times the country's most important industry, though it often struggled to compete with the better-funded woollen mills in the north of England, and almost disappeared during the 20th century. There is continued demand for quality Welsh woollen products.
Trefriw Woollen Mills is a woollen mill in the village of Trefriw, Conwy, in northern Wales, that has been operating since around 1825.
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