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August 15, 2012
BLACK COUNTRY BUTTON FIRM ATTRACTS BUSINESS FROM BARBOUR AND BURBERRY
Black Country button manufacturer is winning business from some of the top names in fashion!
James Grove and Sons in Halesowen have been producing buttons using horn for 155 years and using the latest equipment they can laser label names or logos on to their buttons.
Managing Director Sue Witcutt, who joined the family business six years ago, said that James Grove import their horn from Asia. It is the largest remaining horn button manufacturer in the UK with only one smaller rival in Scotland that makes its buttons by hand.
The business originally started out in premises at the junction of Birmingham Road and Cornbow in Halesowen in 1857 and moved to its present site in Stourbridge Road in 1865 where the old Bloomfield Works was built. The works was replaced in 2006 when the company invested £1.5m in its present purpose-built factory, where about 40 million buttons a year are still made.
When founder James Grove started up the business he sold horn and hoof buttons made in Halesowen from hotel rooms as he travelled across Europe. The firm grew and built up markets supplying uniform buttons for the military, railways and the GPO and at its peak in 1917 employed 600.
James Grove still turns buttons from horn and also uses polyester, corozo and casein as raw materials. The 20-strong workforce includes some highly skilled and experienced craftsmen including one employee who has been with the company for half a century.
Mrs Witcutt said that the skill of its employees was one of the strengths of the business. “We make buttons to standard patterns but we also provide a bespoke service. James Grove is now winning orders from some of the biggest names in luxury clothing including Ralph Lauren, Ben Sherman, Barbour and Burberry.”
Mrs Witcutt said that James Grove was currently stepping up its marketing to attract fresh orders and was using its website to get its designs across to new customers.
