UK industry mourns the loss of senior figure
A prominent figure in the leather industry in the UK, Ian Harris, has died. Leather UK has sent its condolences to his family. Mr Harris, who ran the Clyde Leather Company in Glasgow for many years, died on October 26 at the age of 87.
After graduating in leather chemistry from the University of Leeds, Ian Harris joined his family’s leather business in the same city. However, he relocated to Glasgow in 1963 to run the business at the Clyde Leather Company’s site in Neilston in the south-west of the city.
The company specialised in industrial gloving, suede splits and pigmented printed splits. Finished splits became its principal product and it became a supplier many prominent sports footwear brands.
Ian Harris was keen on innovation and was the first tannery operator in the UK to introduce roller-coater padding machines.
He built up many friendships within the leather industry and enjoyed visits to industry fairs with his wife Liz, with the Semaine du Cuir in Paris always a particular highlight.
Outside the leather industry, Ian was a keen and accomplished sailor and was a well known figure on the Clyde and around the west coast of Scotland.
In the late 1980s, Ian’s sons, Paul and Richard, joined the business and today the tannery still produces suede, pigmented and industrial leathers. It is the only suede tannery in Scotland and has now been trading successfully for 60 years.
