The article provides an overview of Tricker's, a 187-year-old bootmaker based in Northampton, England. The CEO, Martin Mason, discusses Tricker's history of making durable, waterproof boots for farmers and how the brand has expanded globally while maintaining production in its original Northampton factory. Mason highlights Tricker's commitment to traditional craftsmanship, with almost 250 steps to make a pair of boots, while also modernizing distribution through a new website and partnerships. The article conveys Tricker's blend of heritage, quality, and willingness to evolve with the times.

1. T 01708 501762 | M 07734 712855 | E lisaemilywade@hotmail.com | www.lisawade.co.ukMAGAZINES: Runwild Media: The City Magazine
76 THE CITY MAGAZINE | September 2016 s luxurYloNdoN.Co.uk s
ofthe trade
The City Magazine visits the
Northampton HQ of Tricker’s
to discover what makes the
famous bootmaker tick
WORDS: DaviDTaylor
Tricks
A
sk any farmer for advice on which
shoes to invest in, and more often
than not, they’ll send you in the
direction of Tricker’s. Sturdy, waterproof,
and supremely comfortable, a pair of boots
from the family-run business is remarkably
well-suited to a person shearing sheep
knee-deep in mud. Since 1829, Tricker’s
has become synonymous with the country
brogue, worn by farmers and landed gentry
alike. Things have moved on in the 187
years since James Tricker founded the
Northampton factory, but some things
never change.
“The company developed a unique
welting system and it created this
waterproofing protection for the boot,
so farmers realised they could wear this
leather boot and they could go into their
wet, straw-filled cow sheds and they
wouldn’t get wet feet,” explains Martin
Mason, CEO of Tricker’s since June 2015.
“I think that’s the root of what we do.
We create something that’s functionally
perfect, a superb item that does the job.
But it’s also, I think, a product that has
made the transition from country to town.”
And from there, to other countries. In
Japan, says Martin, the shoes and boots
produced by Tricker’s are truly iconic.
“Go around Tokyo, pop into any
department store, and they will stock
Tricker’s. That’s been the same for about
30 years. They’re also very strong in the
Italian market.” It says something that the
two most style-conscious societies on the
planet are opting to lace a pair of Tricker’s
to their feet.
Almost 250 individual processes are
needed to make a single pair of Tricker’s
shoes, and the narrow factory corridors
are permanently busy as workers move
between stations, checking leathers,
welting shoes and forming the shape of
boots over bespoke lasts (those foot-
shaped wooden moulds).
I’m taken to a room covered in the
unique lasts of thousands of Tricker’s
clients. I manage to spy the names of HRH
the Prince of Wales and Magnum, P.I.
himself, Tom Selleck, before I’m whisked
away to see the rest of the work floor.
It’s clear that Martin has fallen in love
with a company that’s been making all of
its products in the same factory since 1903.
“If somebody wants to buy a country
boot or brogue, they come to Tricker’s.
Everything else is an imitation.
“I’d been approached towards the
end of 2014 by somebody who felt that I
should talk to the family that run Tricker’s.
It’s been run, or had been run, by five
generations of the same family. The fifth
generation is now the chairman, so he was
looking to bring somebody in to take the
business forward. The opportunity came
up, and it’s an absolutely fantastic brand.”
The family feel is still evident as I enter
the old factory and hear the hubbub of
modern machines mixed with the laughter
of craftsmen who have worked there for
their entire careers. Martin sees how
76 THE CITY MAGAZINE | September 2016 s luxurYloNdoN.Co.uk s 78 THE CITY MAGAZINE | September 2016 s luxurYloNdoN.Co.uk s
impressed I am with the operation:
“There are now only what I call ‘top
tier’ shoemakers left in Northampton.
The companies that are still here are
maintaining the craftsmanship for which
the town is known.
“Everything we do is literally made in
this building. A number of shoe companies
have uppers made abroad and brought
back. Those are easy to identify – their
prices are half the price of Tricker’s and
Crockett & Jones, and that’s because of the
manufacturing process. Anything around
our retail price will all be made in the UK.”
The atmosphere is fantastically
British, reminiscent of a Victoria Wood
series, with typically open and jovial staff
showing patience as I pry into their work.
The pride is obvious, as is the age of the
building, notable when I climb a steep
staircase to the leather cutting area. It’s
like trying to ascend the Southeast Ridge
of Mount Everest, I joke - the irony of
which isn’t lost on Martin.
Pulling out an old log book, Martin
shows me an entry for a certain Sir
Edmund Hillary, detailing pairs of
Tricker’s for a ‘Himalaya Expedition’
– a trip that turned into Sir Edmund’s
successful 1953 ascent of the highest
mountain in the world.
Hillary isn’t the only famous name to
have slipped on a pair of Tricker’s: Lord
Carnarvon wore them when opening the
tomb of Tutankhamen, and the James
Bond franchise has enjoyed plenty of
time in the store on Jermyn Street, from
Ian Fleming himself to current 007,
Daniel Craig. Elsewhere, icon of the
French Resistance during WWII, Jean
Moulin, noted in his journals that during
his London meetings with Charles de
Gaulle, he only ever bought Tricker’s
from Jermyn Street.
Heritage is an intrinsic part of the
Tricker’s identity. The country boot
produced today was conceived by Walter
James Barltrop, son-in-law to Joseph
Tricker, in 1840 (the same year as the
world’s first stamp, the ‘Penny Black’).
The quality of Tricker’s shoes was
appreciated during both World Wars, when
the factory was tasked with making boots
for the officers. Post-war, many soldiers
who had left the forces continued to buy
Tricker’s, and passed on the love to their
children. This loyalty is still being handed
down today.
“We’ve had instances where our store
manager has spoken to somebody whose
father brought them in, and who has
brought their son in, so we’re talking
about three generations now,” says
Martin. “It’s almost like a rite of passage:
when you get to a certain age, you get
your shoes from Jermyn Street.
“The great thing is, we have customers
who come in and say ‘these are my father’s
brogues’, and they’re wearing them – they’re
proud to wear them because they’re worn in.”
The second, ‘new’ store on Jermyn Street
opened in 1938, and has changed very little
since then, still boasting its original cabinet
tree, in which client’s orders are held.
“That’s what people are buying into,”
says Martin. “They’re not buying into a
concept that someone in marketing has
thought up to try and create the illusion
of heritage or Britishness. Tricker’s
exudes authentically.”
It may have one foot in the past, but
Tricker’s isn’t a brand that’s scared to
“Thegreatthingis,wehavecustomerswhocome
inandsay‘thesearemyfather’sbrogues’,and
they’rewearingthem”
78 THE CITY MAGAZINE | September 2016 s luxurYloNdoN.Co.uk s
Henry elastic brogue
boot in espresso, £390
Burford plain Derby
boot, £390
Henry elastic brogue
boot in burnished, £390
THE CITY MAGAZINE | September 2016 77
| style |
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“If somebody wants
to buy a country boot
or a country brogue,
they come to Tricker’s.
Everything else is
an imitation”
THE CITY MAGAZINE | September 2016 77
| style |
s luxurYloNdoN.Co.uk s
Bourton country shoe
in marron, £375
Bourton country shoe
in acorn, £375
THE CITY MAGAZINE | September 2016 79
| style |
s luxurYloNdoN.Co.uk s
Martin. “He wanted a new heel, new
sole, and new welt, but he said ‘under
no circumstances do I want you to do
anything to the uppers. Don’t polish, don’t
clean, don’t do anything.’ There were scuff
marks on the shoes, and the guys were
dying to put some polish on them. But he
just loved them as they were.”
Invest in pair of Tricker’s, it seems, and
they quickly become far more than a pair
of shoes; they become a part of you.
march into the future. It launched a
new website in December 2015, and has
recently become available through MR
Porter. “It’s about pushing the brand into
a slightly more modern idiom to make it
more relevant to today,” says Martin.
This doesn’t mean the brand is
forgetting its roots. Tricker’s legacy is
wrapped up in family, something
that is reflected in the requests the
master cobblers receive every day.
“We had someone who
brought in a pair of shoes
he’d had for 35 years,” says
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Stow Revival
In celebration of its first ever
seasonal collection, debuting
A/W16, Tricker’s has added six new
colourways to its most iconic boot
collection. For one season only,
the Stow Boot will be available in
Parisian Blue, Grey Shrunken Grain,
Black Mock Crocodile, Lollipop Red,
Espresso Scotch Grain and Earth
Brown Repello Suede. Each pair has
a contrasting coloured sole, coloured
cotton pulls and ‘Tricker’s Blue’
lining. The Stow Revival is Tricker’s
most contemporary collection to
date. The boots are available at 67
Jermyn Street or at trickers.com. Get
them while you can.
Parisian Blue Stow
Revival Boot, £390
Lollipop Red Stow
Revival Boot, £390
Grey Shrunken Grain
Stow Revival Boot, £390
CityLifeOCTOBER 2016
The powerand
The glory
This yEaR maRks ThE 350Th
annivERsaRy Of ThE gREaT fiRE Of
lOndOn, and ThE BEginnings Of
wREn’s gREaTEsT masTERpiECE
The Great Fire of London officially claimed only
six lives, but the toll on the City’s infrastructure
was much higher. Out of 80,000 inhabitants,
the homes of 70,000 were destroyed. Eighty-
eight parish churches were razed to the
ground, as was St Paul’s Cathedral. Many were
rebuilt through the collaborative efforts of Sir
Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke and Nicholas
Hawksmoor, but St Paul’s is Wren’s personal
masterpiece. Out of the ashes of a Gothic church
grew today’s iconic Romanesque construction,
a reminder of the monumental effort spent
rebuilding an obliterated city.
Page 26: Discover how Wren and his
contemporaries rebuilt the City’s churches in the
60 years following the Great Fire
s luxurylondon.co.uk s THE cITy MAGAZInE | February 2016 29
| STYLE |
In a flurry of pinstripes and male peacockery, the eighth
London Collections Men kicked off in the capital last month. If you
believe the industry hype, when it comes to menswear, London is
leaving Paris and Milan in its wake
Words: Stephen Doig
All
DresseD
Up
THE CITY MAGAZINE | February 2016 31
| STYLE |
s luxurYloNdoN.Co.uk s
she said of the collection which spliced
Victoriana with military uniform and
a sense of the fantastical – butterfly
prints over suits or painted on coats,
embroidered on jackets, eruptions of
painterly florals and richly decorative
sparkling sequinned evening wear.
This McQueen man still came
with punk accents (see the
safety pins through the
cheeks) but the impact
of those final looks in the
imposing Foreign and
Commonwealth Office
in Whitehall was about
grandeur rather than
grittiness.
At Burberry, too,
Christopher Bailey
experimented with
notions of sportswear to
meld solid country tweeds
and rugged outerwear
with nifty, zippy track tops
and trousers. “It was about
looking at how people
dress now and lots of different
worlds merging together,” he
said, a reference to the decision
to meld the Prorsum, Brit and London
lines under one big Burberry banner.
That familiar check was reimagined as a
grid on fur bombers, nods to the military
heritage that’s so engrained in Burberry
but it was the sporty pieces that caught
the eye in dazzling red sequins. “I love the
idea of taking something fairly everyday
and turning it into something else,
something more dazzling,”
said Bailey.
So perhaps if anything,
the autumn season will be
hallmarked by bringing a
touch of casual ease to classic
pieces – weekend wear with
tailoring, sportswear with
Donegal tweeds, or, in the case
of E. Tautz, neat jackets with
relaxed, soft structure trousers.
Call it tailoring with the stuffing
taken out, if you will.
CLOCKWISE FROM
BOTTOM LEFT
Chester Barrie; backstage
at Burberry Menswear;
David Gandy with models at
Chester Barrie presentation
(photo: Justin Goff); Kilgour
presentation; Burberry
Menswear; Gieves &
Hawkes presentation
| STYLE |
30 THE CITY MAGAZINE | February 2016 s luxurYloNdoN.Co.uk s
I
t’s testament to the work of the British
Fashion Council and its chair Caroline
Rush and LCM chair GQ editor Dylan
Jones that the event has grown beyond
all expectations, now featuring 65 brands
and ambassadors including Tinie Tempah,
David Gandy and Dermot O’Leary.
This season, the winds of change were
whistling up and down Savile Row. Jason
Basmajian has been the driving force
behind the reinvigoration of Gieves &
Hawkes, respectfully paying homage to the
weighty history of the house but lending a
modern, sportier edge and developing an
international customer base beyond the
confines of the Row. So, when it came to
his final presentation at Gieves & Hawkes
before he heads to Cerruti 1881, it was with
a sense of bittersweetness to his swansong
that showcased refined weekend wear
and an everyday ease instead of sharp
formal tailoring, with chunky knits paired
with jackets and a sumptuous line up of
evening wear, with a foliage-effect silk
jacquard dinner jacket a particular
highlight. “This guy’s a real man
with real clothes, it’s about settling
in not settling down,” he said.
Change was in the air
too a few doors up at Hardy
Amies, which unveiled the first
collection by Darren Barrowcliff,
who steps into former creative
director Mehmet Ali’s polished
shoes after his departure. What
followed was a quietly assured
selection of classic pieces, done
very well – crisp, sharp coats, neat suiting
and nubbly tweeds and checks. There
was also a similar sense of classicism at
Chester Barrie, which showed impeccable,
sharp dinner jackets in burgundy silk
jacquard or in double breasted shawl
collared velvet – a suitably British sense of
refinement and elegance.
Similarly, it was home turf that
inspired John Ray at Dunhill, who, after
experimenting with interpretations of
the British aristocracy and Soho artists in
previous seasons, returned to the rigour
and structure of English tailoring. “This
is real English,” he said of the blazers and
slick suits that made up his presentation,
which was set in the historic Savile Club
to create a “gentleman’s private members’
club” feel, and act as the perfect backdrop
to his exceptional evening wear. There
isn’t a man in Mayfair who wouldn’t covet
Dunhill’s plush velvet evening jacket in
butterscotch velvet.
But while a sense of tradition and
classic masculine style dominated,
there was a strong thread of
renegade experimentalism in some
pockets of London Collections
Men, which has always supported
the more left-of-centre designers
(oversized oven mitts on sleeves
anyone? That would be Astrid
Andersen). At Alexander McQueen,
Sarah Burton looked to Charles
Darwin. “I was drawn to this idea
of a traveller, a collector and the
concept of natural history, natural
selection and
the dawn of
something,”
OPENING PAGE,
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
Dunhill presentation (photo:
Shaun Cox, courtesy of the
British Fashion Council);
Gieves & Hawkes; Hardy
Amies; Burberry
Menswear; Kilgour
THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE
FROM BOTTOM LEFT
Burberry Menswear;
Hardy Amies; Hardy Amies
(photo: Shaun James Cox,
courtesy of the British
Fashion Council); Alexander
McQueen (photo: Shaun
James Cox, courtesy of the
British Fashion Council)
44 THE CITY MAGAZINE | June 2016 s luxurYloNdoN.Co.uk s
LONDON CITYAIRPORT
CANARY
WHARF
GREENWICH
VAUXHALL
CHELSEA
HYDE PARK ST JAMES’S PARK
WATERLOO LONDON BRIDGE
CLAPHAM JUNCTION
VICTORIA
BATTERSEAPARK
LIVERPOOL STREET
WESTMINSTER
OLD STREET
ANGEL
LONDON CITYAIRPORT
CANARY
WHARF
GREENWICH
VAUXHALL
CHELSEA
HYDE PARK ST JAMES’S PARK
WATERLOO LONDON BRIDGE
CLAPHAM JUNCTION
VICTORIA
BATTERSEAPARK
LIVERPOOL STREET
WESTMINSTER
OLD STREET
ANGEL
44 THE CITY MAGAZINE | June 2016 s luxurYloNdoN.Co.uk s
250 City Road
developeR: Berkeley Homes
aRChiteCt: Foster and Partners
New homes: 930
estimated CompletioN: 2019
city road
NiNE ELMS
masteRplaNNeR: Allies and Morrison
BuildiNg aRChiteCts: Rafael Viñoly, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Sir Terry
Farrell, Allies and Morrison and Kieran Timberlake, Foster + Partners, and
Gehry Partners
site size: 561 acres
total iNvestmeNt: £15 billion +
New joBs: 25,000
New homes: 20,000 (minimum)
affoRdaBle homes: 581 (Battersea Power Station) + 2,400 (on the Wandsworth
side of the border) + 98 (shared ownership homes)
CommeRCial offiCe spaCe: 3 million sq ft
Retail spaCe: 2.8 million sq ft
puBliC spaCe: 12-acre linear park linking Battersea Park and Battersea Power Station
estimated CompletioN: Two-thirds to be delivered by 2020
Transformation is in progress on what was once a semi-derelict, light industrial zone.
Thanks to a multi-billion pound private investment programme, Nine Elms on the South
Bank will benefit from a £1 billion transport improvement package, not to mention
three iconic attractions including a regenerated Battersea Power Station, the new
United States Embassy and New Covent Garden Market.
CaNaletto
developeR: Groveworld
aRChiteCt: UNStudio
New homes: 190
estimated CompletioN: Completed
lexiCoN
developeR: Mount Anvil
aRChiteCt: SOM
New homes: 146
estimated CompletioN: Q2 2016
Tech City is attracting some of London’s biggest new home schemes, with walk-to-work flats
launching on and around City Road. Up until 1990, this district was a lively commercial quarter, but
as the trades and crafts were made redundant by new technologies, the area became somewhat of
a ghost town. Today, City Road is rejoicing in a renaissance as many developers cash in on the rise of
Silicon Roundabout and the design quarter that’s spreading from nearby Clerkenwell.
THE CITY MAGAZINE | June 2016 45s luxurYloNdoN.Co.uk s
LONDON CITYAIRPORT
CANARY
WHARF
GREENWICH
VAUXHALL
CHELSEA
HYDE PARK ST JAMES’S PARK
WATERLOO LONDON BRIDGE
CLAPHAM JUNCTION
VICTORIA
BATTERSEAPARK
LIVERPOOL STREET
WESTMINSTER
OLD STREET
ANGEL
LONDON CITYAIRPORT
CANARY
WHARF
GREENWICH
VAUXHALL
CHELSEA
HYDE PARK ST JAMES’S PARK
WATERLOO LONDON BRIDGE
CLAPHAM JUNCTION
VICTORIA
BATTERSEAPARK
LIVERPOOL STREET
WESTMINSTER
OLD STREET
ANGEL
Over the past 18 months, the number of new homes under construction in inner London has risen by
40 per cent. Here are a few of the key developments shaping London’s future skyline
THE CITY MAGAZINE | June 2016 45s luxurYloNdoN.Co.uk s
Masterplanner: Allies and Morrison
Building architects: Allies and Morrison, Darling Associates, KPF, Herzog & de Meuron, Stanton
Williams Architects, Grid Architects, and Patel Taylor
site size: 22 acres
new joBs: 17,000
new hoMes: 3,300
affordaBle hoMes: 607
coMMercial office space: 2 million sq ft
retail space: 275,000 sq ft
puBlic space: 3.6 hectares
coMMunity facilities: A new two-form entry primary school and NHS health facility
estiMated coMpletion: 2023 (first phase to be completed in 2019)
Formerly known as Wood Wharf, this site has been designed with the vision of providing a new urban
quarter for people to live, work, visit and enjoy. Representing one of London’s largest privately-owned
development sites, this area is of great significance, not only on a local and national scale, but on an
international one too. The first phase of this development will follow the arrival of Crossrail in 2018.
Off the Canary Wharf estate, Galliard Homes, Ballymore and Berkeley Homes, are offering alternative
housing with various projects well underway.
NEW PHASE, CANAry WHArf
GrEENWICH PENINSULA
Masterplanner: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (original
Masterplan), Allies and Morrison (revised Masterplan)
Building architects: Pilbrow & Partners, SOM, careyjones
chapmantolcher, dsdha
site size: 147 acre site
total investMent: At least £8.4 billion (estimated)
new joBs: 12,000
new hoMes: 13,000 (bringing the total new homes to 16,000)
affordaBle hoMes: Approximately 4,000
coMMercial office space: 60,000 sq m
retail space: 24,000 sq m
puBlic space: 48 acres of open green spaces
coMMunity facilities: Two new schools, a new North Greenwich
transport hub, new community and health facilities and a new 40,000
sq m film studio
estiMated coMpletion: Winter 2018
Billed as the largest ever regeneration project ever taken on by a
single developer, Greenwich Peninsula will completely transform this
area into a major housing centre. Furthermore, at a time of critical
housing shortage, this development will deliver affordable housing,
with more than two-thirds up for social rent, at no more than 50 per
cent of market rent.