| Quality |
| Our customers expect the best of us, so every stage in our production cycle is geared towards achieving consistently high quality. |
| Raw material |
| We have established long-term relationships with our suppliers who are based in Australia, New Zealand, South America, North America, Northern Europe, and Scandinavia. All the raw material we use has to meet our stringent technical specifications, - we do not work with low grades. |
| Selection |
We select and evaluate the material at several stages during the conversion process: |
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| Our objectives are always the same - to check that the specifications in the process have been achieved up to that point, to check that the specifications later in the process are likely to be achieved, and to sort for best use. Records are kept at each stage. |
| Fibre structure |
| As a general rule our leather shrinks by between 15% and 30% of the original size during processing (i.e. we lose area). This gives us a quality advantage over most suede leather tanners who look for maximum area gain. |
| Our reputation has been based on this 'drawing together' of the fibre structure since we started to specialise in footwear suedes in the 1960’s. Our various suedes differ in appearance, handle, and performance, but the same attribute of tight fibre structure applies to all. |
| Our finished footwear has a unique appearance and a high level of performance. Contrast this with the normal method of making suede where the skins are stretched for economic reason, so that the fibre structure is much looser and more 'hairy' leading to deterioration during wear. |
| Colour control |
| Our dyeings are all pure aniline, without any synthetic pigment spray to augment depth of colour, or levelness of colour. As such, unlike other tanners, we cannot rely on finishing procedures (colour sprays), and must ensure that the original drum dyeing is as solid, and as accurate as possible. |
| We invest heavily in the dyeing equipment itself, which maximises control, and minimises subsequent rework. |
| We use the Datamatch system for colour control, which enables us to record accurately every aspect of colour patterns, bulk dyeings, and dye recipes at each of the main stages. |
| The advantages of this system to our company were highlighted in an article which appeared recently in an issue of World of Leather. It illustrates why high quality drum dyeing is all-important. |