International Leather Maker

Any reasonable world requires societies to provide decent jobs for its people. Whether it is explained by the Brundtland definition of Sustainability, the Sustainable Development Goals or straightforward common-sense, citizens require fulfilling work. Since the 1990s, governments have increasingly made policy moves suggesting that all such work will need a university degree. This foolishly overlooks […]

Setting ambitious goals is a good strategic element. Some might remember the idea of the “Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal” or BHAG from the book Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. It is a good way to galvanise a business with a long-term goal linked to core values and purpose. One could think of many […]

If you inflate the carbon footprint of leather by inaccurately appropriating methane from cows, then replace leather with a material that is either virgin or post-consumer plastic, you can evidence a big saving, but this probably sits as a mix of virtue signalling and poor science. It ignores the emissions benefits from the longevity of […]

The leather industry will come under attack once again on November 30, 2023, when COP28 starts in Dubai. Reducing methane emissions is expected to be a major theme and will create another opportunity for those campaigning against leather production. For all of history, ruminant animals have eaten grass, produced milk and been part of a […]

When the American company Bolt Threads decided to stop its development of mycelium as a leather replacement, many excited commenters noted that the two stumbling blocks were performance and very high prices. How often have tanners been told of key retail price points, which cannot be breached, where leather must take the hit and give up on […]

Every Vice-Chancellor arriving at the University of Northampton discovers that they have a tannery on site and a series of courses teaching leather. This usually creates a series of immediate enquiries: why it is there, who are the students and what does it cost? The history of UK leather, and specifically tanning and shoemaking in […]

Early civilisations, even before the ancient Romans and Greeks, were busy trading hides, skins and leather around the Mediterranean and other parts of the world. Different raw material types and qualities, along with varied tanning methods, meant that the material was highly differentiated. Various regions offered specific qualities not found elsewhere. The leather industry was […]

On Wednesday, July 28, 2021, the traffic was heavy through Yeovil. Roadworks were causing delays and I was late. When I arrived and rushed up the stairs to the meeting room, I was embarrassed to find they had waited for me, more because a late arrival would be an unwelcome interruption once a start had […]

Making leather has never been easy. The very concept of taking a highly variable raw material and turning it into something that is regular, long-lasting and beautiful is mindboggling in itself. That’s before all the warnings about the variations that come from breed, sex, age, husbandry and the more or less infinite uses that have […]

Market research is an important tool, but its value depends on having a representative sample and carefully putting together questions that don’t funnel answers to an expected conclusion or cause confusion. The ILM Tanner Business Confidence Survey is not in this category but, being self-selecting, it is not clear how well it really represents the trade. Despite […]