Sometimes stuff just happens. Good stuff rarely happens on its own. It happens when good people try hard. And that’s what we have here – these articles are about things that have happened. And will happen.
The podcast is out. Hear our story about how we made a million in Brexit Britain here:-
We love sheds. And people that make things in sheds. This week we’ve been procrastinating heavily and have been sucked into an internet wormhole about a material called STARLITE. Created in the late ’80’s in a shed by former hairdresser and self proclaimed tinkerer, Maurice Ward, Starlite was a heat proof, fire resistant material (and […]
Launching very soon and limited to just 50, is our new British Standard long sleeve t-shirt in white. Made from the best quality 195g Supima Star cotton spun in Manchester, knitted in Leicester, manufactured in Blackburn and hand screen printed with chest logo in Slaithwaite, Huddersfield. Launching via our newsletter. Sign up here
We like things that are made to last. Things that look good when new, that get better with age. Film made by Whitenosugar Productions
Steve Gittner is a local customer of ours – an accomplished architect with a practice in Halifax, working on some stunning contemporary structures across the country. He’s supported us from the early days and has a nice dog called Alan. In the late 1970s, Photographer Fay Godwin explored the Calder Valley and surrounding area […]
We work in a shed. You can come and visit us in there to try on and buy our lovely British made products. Open Days are on the following Saturdays from 10-4 through the summer: 15th June, 27th July and 24th August. More details here. Film made by Whitenosugar Productions.
We commissioned our friendly local writer Benjamin Myers to write us a poem about sheds. Why sheds? Well for a start we work in one. We also love our own sheds for pottering about, making and mending. And we love having a good nosey in other people’s sheds so we thought we’d show you some […]
Another film crew at HebTroCo today. It’s all glamour! The Cooperative Bank are making a film about ethical businesses & were interviewing us about how we try to do things the right way. Working locally, selling quality products that last, using paper shipping sacks to cut plastic and using the electric cargo bike where possible, […]
Pebbles the Jack Russell was working from home at the last open day, but loads of other dogs came for a sniff round the chicken shed. Bronte the bulldog went round sniffing everybody’s feet and licking trousers. She liked Governor Canvas Jeans best. Nick and Claus wanted a selfie. Bronte has her own Instagram account […]
We work in a shed. We love sheds. We know lots of other people do too. Here’s our new occasional series celebrating what other people get up to in their sheds. Got a good shed? Let us know! There is something quintessentially British about a shed, and the projects we tinker with in them. It […]
Even though we set up as an online menswear brand, people kept turning up at our warehouse / office unit wanting to buy our stuff. This is great we thought! We should encourage it and make the place a bit more like a shop. We still sell online directly to customers, as this helps us […]
We work in a shed. Back in the first half of the twentieth century, Thornbers, a world leading chicken hatchery business, eventually employing thousands, was built from scratch on what is now the Top Land Country Business Park near Hebden Bridge. Millions of chicks were sold by mail order from here to households and businesses […]
A month ago we were given these stickers to put on all orders going overseas. Not just the ones to America. “Just in case there’s no deal, or some kind of deal.” Well we didn’t have to put the customs declaration on these trousers heading out to the Netherlands today. Maybe we will at some […]
So @magicrockbrewing have been sold to Lion, a big Australian beer company. LOTS of the comments on their social media remind us of the “road rage” response we sometimes get for selling £125 trousers, or God forbid, the ridiculously expensive Garrison Belt. It’s probably true that the nastiest comments come from people who have no […]
Brexit is so much fun. We’ve been enjoying the whole process as long as we’ve been in business, because it’s been the political backdrop that’s defined the three years we’ve been in existence. The first time we ordered moleskin from our German supplier (it’s no longer made anywhere in Britain) was on the day that […]
We’ve just hit the milestone of £1 million gross turnover for our small business. Loads of money! But where is the £1 million? Who’s got the money? Nice as it would be, neither of us has half a million quid in our British made pockets. Most of it has gone into the British economy. We […]
Benjamin Myers wrote his historical novel, the Gallows Pole, about the real places and people that inhabited Cragg Vale, the same part of the upper Calder Valley that HebTroCo has as its stronghold. Actually we’re based in a former chicken shed, but lets keep a bit of poetic licence going here. In the late eighteenth […]
We make stuff here, using quality materials and British manufacturers. But people call us out constantly. About our foreign dog. Brown faces on our production line. Knives “in this current climate”. I think it’s called “whataboutery” – the latest one is cotton. And how much water it takes to process enough cotton for a […]
Two years ago we were a good news story on the front cover of the Yorkshire Post Magazine. The pictures show us in a nineteenth century mill in Hebden Bridge, having trousers made and selling them to people all over the country and overseas. It was a great story and inspired us and many customers. […]