A consortium made up of Abbey England, renowned provider of saddlery and associated goods to the equestrian market, Kilger, a German tannery which has supplied Sedgwick with leather for 20 years, and Crawford Hide Company, a UK and Irish hide and skin processing company have joined forces to save Sedgwick & Co., one of the UK’s oldest leather manufacturers.
Sedgwick & Co.’s was taken into administration on 4 October and was threatened with closure due to challenging trading conditions and declining exchange rates. The consortium stepped in and invested £1.5 million to save the struggling business, protecting 60% of the firm’s jobs and maintaining its manufacturing strength to protect its current order book.
Abbey England led the consortium, being keen to prevent the company being wound up altogether given its heavy reliance on the high-quality leather that Sedgwick & Co provides for its own saddlery business.
Richard Brown, managing director at Abbey England, said: “It was imperative that we found a way to save what is one of Britain’s most prestigious leather companies.
“Its leather is an integral component of the high-quality products we, as a consortium, are well-known for producing, within the equestrian sector and beyond.”
