Barbour

John Barbour, a Scot, set up in the Market Place in South Shields in 1894. He supplied oilskins to sailors and fishermen in the North East of England. His son Malcolm produced the first mail order catalogue in 1908. By 1917 it accounted for almost three quarters of the business, with orders from Chile and Hong Kong. Duncan Barbour, a motorcyclist of the third generation, introduced the one-piece International suit in 1936, named for the International Six Day Trials. A two-piece version called the Ursula became standard issue in the submarine service from 1940. Margaret Barbour became Chairman in 1973 after her husband's death. She designed the Bedale, a lightweight thornproof jacket for riding, and followed it with the Beaufort in 1983. The company holds Royal Warrants, the first from the Duke of Edinburgh. It moved into its Simonside factory in South Shields, where the Bedale and Beaufort are still made by hand. The same building houses the Wax for Life service, where jackets are re-waxed and repaired. That practice was first listed in the 1921 catalogue. Barbour International became a stand-alone brand in 2013. The family firm is now in its fifth generation and sells in over 55 countries around the world.