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Since 1989 we’ve been designing, testing and manufacturing all our components in the UK. For us there has never been any question of moving the manufacturing process out to the Far East like pretty much every other bike and component manufacturer in order to save costs. For us quality and control are non-negotiable. Being able to monitor the manufacturing process from start to finish is key, allowing us to spot any issues immediately before they affect production.
By choosing to keep production in the UK it has meant that our costs have been slightly higher, but the result is our components are produced by paying fair wages to employees who work in good conditions. Over the years we’ve often felt quite guilty that our customers buy our components and support our continued manufacturing in the UK, but we’re happy to sell garments and merchandise produced in the Far East. Slightly hypocritical we thought!! We’re proud to make all our components in the UK so why not make our our clothing here as well?
Well the idea turned out to be much easier than the actual process. Our initial investigations in the textile industry didn’t produce many avenues for us to look down. It seems the UK has an existing surplus of skilled labour but not the machines needed to make technical garments. Each avenue we looked down kept pointing to the Far East. How could be that a nation once so dominant in the textiles world now struggled to make garments?
Finally we hit the jackpot when we bumped into RnD London. After a lot of hard work and a good degree of learning we’re pleased to present our new full zip hoodie. RnD London worked in unison with Hope to develop a full zip hoodie based on Hope’s philosophy of using UK manufacturers where possible.
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The Hope Hoodie is completely custom and designed for continuous wash and wear. The poly cotton mix fabric is knitted and finished in Leicestershire at Aristo Fabrics. Fabric cutting and garment construction then takes place at RnD London.
Bare with us, we’re working on the full range of merchandise and riding kit. We’ll get there but we need you to support us in supporting UK industry. Hopefully this might encourage some other brands to do the same…
Buy yours HERE.
Images and film: Roo Fowler