REPORT
Plenty of people go to fashion schools and do millinery courses, which is great, but then they go off to start their own label and create mainly one-offs on a small scale. Our production is much greater than that.”
Overseas The two Chinese factories Snoxell has collaborated with for 20 years now are exactly the same as they would be if they were located in Luton, says Mark. “They use the same blocking and sewing machines, and have the same milliners. The hats and headpieces are made in the same way as we make them here. There is really no difference, it is just done in a different country. We trained the factory to make to our level, to our quality, and we usually visit them twice a year to make sure that they keep working the way we want them to. Obviously, we haven’t been at the factory in the past two years, as we still can’t go to China without having to quarantine for two weeks.” Although China isn’t necessarily a lower-
cost resolution anymore, Mark won’t consider returning the full production to the UK in the near future. “Every time we order, the prices are going up in China. And shipping prices are rising even faster at the moment. The total costs are probably going to get very close to what we would pay if we had everything produced here in the UK, but people must realise that we just won’t be able to have everything produced here anymore. We couldn’t do the volumes here, as there is
Matching the customer’s fabric with the sinamay colours
no staff available. Before we moved production to China, we had so many problems with quality and consistency because of a shortage of qualified staff. That’s all solved now.”
Luton factory In Luton, a team of blockers and milliners take care of the remaining 20 per cent of the production, which concerns mainly big crin pieces, hats trimmed with fabrics, and special commissions for shops. Also, all the designs and sample pieces are created in Luton. “I expect that at the end of this year we are easily back at the level where we left at the beginning of 2020, probably even above that,” Mark says. “I am not worried about business going down after the booming start in 2022; I think it will keep going up. People are desperate to dress up and go to race
meetings and weddings. When the pandemic started, we received enough financial help from the government to keep all our staff. We are very grateful about that as we probably will have to expand in short time; we are thinking about hiring another milliner and an extra machinist here in Luton to be able to keep up with the orders.”
Looking ahead, Mark plans to continue as they are and try to stay one step ahead of anyone else by keeping up with their styling and designs. “We love being the stand-alone hat company which we have been for a very long time, since when my granddad was making hats and my father after him. I have been in this business for 40 years and together with co-owner Graham Gwyther there is quite some knowledge between us, which is quite unique. I don’t think that there are many hat businesses around like ours.”
More information
www.snoxell.com
The blocking floor
The showroom
In the Snoxell workshop
may 2022 | 15
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