Thomas Ware and Sons Ltd

Tanning is one of the most ancient human activities; skins from hunted and bred animals have been preserved to produce clothing, shelter, tools and ornamental pieces since at least the 8th century BC. Vegetable and mineral tanning methods have been refined over the years, but our traditional set-up at Thomas Ware and Sons Ltd would not be unfamiliar to tanners who worked thousands of years ago in the likes of the recently excavated tannery in Pompeii. The UK has a strong history of tanning and until the industrial revolution it was practiced wherever there was a plentiful supply of animal hides and water. Our tannery has been running at the Bristol Clift House site since 1840 (company incorporated in 1890), and while the national leather manufacturing industry has been reduced by pressure from overseas competition, we are one of the few companies who managed to buck this trend. Thomas Ware and Sons Ltd remains one of three tanneries making vegetable tanned leather in the UK, down from over 70 in the 1950s. We believe that the best methods of hair removal, liming and tanning for the types of leather we produce are carried out in pits the traditional way using hides from beef cattle, while many of our domestic and international competitors elect for quicker cheaper processes. In vegetable tanning, particularly when using oak bark, hides can spend over a year in tan; quite different to modern rapid metal tannages that are finished in a few days. We are best known for our work with the shoe trade and production of soles for high-end footwear is where our focus historically lies. To obtain the maximum possible profit from a hide, in recent years we have expanded our product range beyond soles and equestrian to include more specialist niche leathers. Our increasingly diverse customer base continues to be primarily business to business, but now includes leather for anything from cue tips, to flooring, to cricket balls, to high-end fashion goods.