Andrew Griffith MP visited the headquarters of Aspinal of London on Friday - a British brand synonymous with luxury leather and lifestyle goods and one of the few that remains a family-owned businesses in this sector. Based in Fernhurst in the heart of the South Downs National Park, the business is one of the largest employers in the MP’s rural West Sussex constituency.
Taking a break from their busy run up to Christmas, the MP met with the founder and owner, entrepreneur Iain Burton, Claudia Child, Chief Executive Officer, and Andrew Gordon, Head of Corporate. The business employs 170 people covering all areas of the business from design and marketing to retail and personalisation.
Andrew Griffith and Iain Burton discussed the challenges of running a family-owned business that has worked hard to grow its sales and global reputation. Aspinal of London has flagship stores in Regent Street and Royal Exchanges in London, as well as concessions in Harrods and Selfridges. Their online customers are worldwide.
The South Downs is very important to the business and has even inspired one if its collections – ‘South Downs Sunrise’. As a business, they have designed and sold accessories to aid the charity's Beelines and Trees for the Downs campaigns, boosting bee populations and planting trees across the landscape.
The MP was given a tour of the headquarters with Andrew Gordon to see the different departments and meet some of the staff. While the design team were busy working on next year’s lines, the warehouse team were busy prepping orders to fulfil the start of a busy Christmas order book. A large percentage of orders are personalised. Andrew got to see the process of foil embossing before the items were carefully packed and tied in the distinctive navy and gold ribbon.
Andrew Griffith said:
“It was a pleasure to meet founder Iain Burton and the wider Aspinal of London team. It is wonderful to know that we have a high-end business operating right here in the South Downs and producing quality goods that are sold across the world. I’m always an advocate of supporting local businesses and this is a great example of that.”
