BARBOUR
STORY SO FAR
Founded in 1894 by John Barbour, a Scot from Galloway, who set up J. Barbour & Sons Ltd in the Market Place, South Shields, as an importer of oilcloth, supplying oilskins to the seamen, sailors and dockers of the North East coast. The brand became synonymous with waxed cotton outerwear for country, sporting and motorcycle use, popularised by the Beaufort jacket introduced in 1983 and the earlier Bedale (1980). Barbour holds three Royal Warrants and remains a privately owned, family-led business now in its fifth generation, with Dame Margaret Barbour as chairman and her daughter Helen as Vice Chair. The company is still headquartered in South Shields, occupying its current Simonside site since the 1980s, and produces menswear, womenswear, country sport clothing and licensed lines under the Barbour and Barbour International brands.
DESIGNED BY
In-house Barbour design team based at Simonside, South Shields. UK-based: Yes.
MADE BY
Per the brand: classic waxed cotton jackets (Bedale, Beaufort, Beadnell and similar heritage styles) are still cut and constructed in Barbour's own South Shields factory by a team of 150+ skilled workers, producing around 650 jackets a day, with all of the cotton waxing carried out in the UK. Repairs and rewaxing are also handled at the same site. Other product categories — knitwear, casualwear, footwear and accessories — are produced overseas with named partner factories. The brand does not publish a parts-by-percentage breakdown beyond this category-level distinction.
TO BUY
Further information
Further research reading
Region Made
Simonside, South Shields, Tyne and Wear
