International trade award for Joseph Cheaney & Sons
21/04/2016
Joseph Cheaney has been making traditional English shoes in Northamptonshire since 1886. Cousins Jonathan and William Church, fifth-generation shoemakers (from the family behind the Church shoe brand), conducted a management buy-out of Joseph Cheaney & Sons in 2009.
While highly regarded among shoe aficionados, at this time Cheaney was best known in the trade as a contract manufacturer.
The Churches believed they could build the Cheaney brand up and give it a new lease of life. William Church has said: “It had all the right ingredients, a strong heritage, its own UK factory and a skilled local workforce. Being independent gave us the opportunity to raise the profile of Cheaney, as a brand in its own right, both in the UK and internationally.”
The company describes itself as having “a rich manufacturing heritage”. It has been handcrafting its shoes, cutting out the leather, stitching and final polishing in the same factory in Desborough since 1886.
It takes eight weeks and up to 200 different hand operations to make a pair of the brand’s Goodyear-welted shoes.
Jonathan Church said at the time of the announcement about the Queen’s Award: “It’s a great accolade to receive the award in 2016; a year that not only celebrates the ninetieth birthday of the queen, but also the 130th anniversary of our company. For us the award also demonstrates how quality products ‘Made in England’ are recognised the world over.”
Since the buyout in 2009 turnover has more than doubled (from £4m to £9.6m), while exports have tripled and now account for nearly one-third of the company’s turnover. Around 80% of export sales come from Europe and Asia, with Italy being Cheaney’s biggest market in Europe, and Japan its largest export market overall.
“The Japanese have a huge respect for well made tailored goods and for the ‘Made in England brand’,” Jonathan Church added. “The market has been challenging, we have managed grow our share and we still see great potential in the Japanese market.”
In addition, Cheaney has a growing presence in Germany, Belgium, France, the US, Canada, Scandinavia and the Middle East. The company has also taken part in trade missions with the UK department of trade and industry. Exercises of this kind have taken place recently in South Korea, Russia, Malaysia and Taiwan, with local embassies carrying out market research and arranging relevant customer contacts and appointments.
Cheaney’s workforce has grown from 90 (when the Churches bought the company) to over 160 skilled craftsmen and women now, some of of whom are fifth-generation employees themselves. The company says it places importance on training and passing on these skills to the next generation by employing apprentices “to continue the craft in Northamptonshire”.
Image shows Jonathan Church (left) and William Church, joint managing directors of Joseph Cheaney & Sons.
Share this story:
