COMPANY PROFILE


Cheryl Taylor talks to Ivor Tilley, Chairman of NPS Shoes Ltd, a long-established Northamptonshire company proud of its shoe making history


Tell us about the history of NPS: NPS (Shoes) Ltd., or The Northamptonshire


Productive Society, was founded in 1881 as a co-operative organisation, a commercial concern owned and run by the people working in it. One of the world’s oldest footwear manufacturers, NPS moved into its current premises around 1900.


The company has continued to meet the challenging demands of market trends associated with both industrial and street fashion footwear, by combining traditional craftsmanship with modern production equipment and technology.


NPS originally began as a ‘cottage industry’, on a small-scale basis where members of the co-operative used their own equipment and sometimes worked on a part-time basis to make boots in small quantities. The business gradually developed, and by the 1990s, there were more than 80 workers .


After the busiest period of its history, NPS


faced hard times, as trading conditions got tougher. At the turn of the last century, the company almost collapsed and by 2006, with no hope in sight, the decision was made to liquidate all their assets.


When did you get involved Ivor? I lived in Wollaston, the same village as the


NPS factory and had long admired the co- operative principle, but recognised that such organisations, run by committees, can be very difficult to make successful. When I heard that NPS was on the verge of going out of business in 2006, I decided to get involved. I was told that someone else was interested in taking over the company, so I asked for permission to talk to the staff. It was obvious that the company was losing so much money that a speedy reversal of fortunes was absolutely necessary. I wanted to keep the production of handcrafted shoes here and managed to convince the employees that I was serious in my commitment.


I’m pleased to say that I won the majority vote


and became the new owner of NPS seven years ago. The employees’ faith in my promises paid off,


10 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • OCTOBER 2013


and the company’s trading position is now far healthier. Everyone in the company takes great pride in the quality of the footwear that they produce. The British flag often takes pride of place in the company’s marketing, and it serves to identify NPS as having a long tradition of manufacturing well-made footwear for customers who demand the best.


Tell us about your factory and the shoes you make now? NPS Shoes is located in a building that has


seen many generations of shoe makers, often from the same family and one can still visit the craftsmen at work today. We are based in the traditional English shoemaking region of Northamptonshire, producing high-quality Goodyear welted footwear from traditional sole materials (e.g. leather, rubber and natural crepe). NPS shoes manufacturers its own range of traditional footwear as well as on behalf of others such as Marks & Spencer, Jack Wills and John Lewis. In addition, we also manufacture our Solovair® footwear ranges from our soft suspension PVC sole material. All of our footwear is available throughout the UK and overseas through appointed agents and wholesalers.


How Many Staff do you employ? We now employ 53 people who specialise in the


production of high quality traditional welted footwear. Fundamental to the success of our current business has been the flexibility and multi-skilling of our staff to cope with changes in customer requirements and order volumes. Accordingly, we can manufacture small, bespoke runs of footwear, responding to our customers’ needs both quickly and efficiently.


Any plans for the future? As the NPS website states: “Our customers


understand that British made footwear is amongst the best quality in the world. By combining over 130 years of traditional craftsmanship and tooling with the latest technology and materials, NPS will continue to produce the finest quality footwear. To maintain this undisputed quality, our products will always be handcrafted in Britain from beginning to end.


NPS Shoes Ltd


e: sales@nps-solovair.co.uk w: www.nps-solovair.co.uk


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