UKLF centenary celebrations

Published: 06 October, 2008

A dinner was held at Leathersellers Hall in London at the beginning of October to celebrate the centenary of the UKLF. Records show that in 1908 there were 37 members of the first national leather trade association while today, sadly, there are only twenty.

However, this was an extremely enjoyable occasion which was attended by a number of past presidents including John Fergus, Dr Tony Marriott and Michael Pearson, to name but three. Dr Robert Sykes, past director of the British Leather Confederation, was also there.

A European flavour was provided by holding the dinner on the night before the latest scheduled Cotance meeting, making it possible for Salvatore Mercogliano and Fulvia Bacchi of UNIC to attend. Other overseas representatives included Nalle Johansson, Elmo Leather Sweden and new president of Cotance; Herman and Monica Hulshof, the Netherlands; Jean-Claude and Jane-Danielle Ricomard and Sophie Hivert, France; Reinhard Schneider, Germany; Per and Christine Lennartsson, Sweden; Josep Balbe, Spain; Gustavo Gonzales-Quijano, Cotance general secretary; and the Ethiopian Ambassador Berhanu Kebede.

The first ever president of the federation was Sir John Turney while the role of honorary president was filled by J Telfer, Master of the Leathersellers Company, who hosted the first meeting in October 1908. In 1918, Marjorie Atkinson was appointed as the first full-time secretary.

Today, the director of the UK Leather Federation is Paul Pearson, who has been providing support since 1988. Mike Dodd is the current president and James Lang vice president.

The initial growth and decline of the UK industry can be charted by the rise and fall in membership. Ten years after its formation the association had grown to more than 300 but by the half century there were 245 listed.

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