UK leather industry awards

Some of the UK leather industry's ‘hidden heroes'  have been honoured with national awards.They may not be as famous as Stella McCartney or Alexander McQueen, but their talent is up there with the sector's best - that was the verdict on employees at six footwear and leather companies, who were named as the fashion and textile industry's Behind the Seams heroes this week.



The Behind the Seams awards are part of a major campaign by Skillfast-UK, the Sector Skills Council for fashion and textiles, to honour the skills of those whose technical and craft skills help UK businesses to compete against global competition. Linda Florance of Skillfast-UK explains:‘The public perception of the fashion and textiles industry stops with the famous designers, but those in the know understand that the sector couldn't function without the creative, technical and commercial teams who work out of the public eye. We launched the Behind the  Seams Awards to honour those whose skills normally go unrecognised. Without their abilities, UK businesses would not be up there, competing with the world's best.

The six footwear and leather skills heroes included: Mitch Allender, a cutter at luxury leathergoods company Mulberry, Scott McKee, hand-laster and bespoke shoemaker at Trickers, Fiona Campbell, designer and pattern-cutter at James Taylor & Son, Stephanie Crutchley, a shoemaker from Green Shoes, David Niblock, technical and quality manager at Hunter Boot, and Patrick Stevens, commercial manager at speciality leather producers Joseph Clayton & Sons.



The achievements of all the Behind the Seams award winners were celebrated at an event in London on November 11. Their names also appear in a skills  roll of honour, which is to be presented to Skills Minister Lord Young.Florance says:‘As well as celebrating the fantastic talent in our industries, we wanted to remind politicians of the need to train the next generation.We need to make sure that vital practical, technical and craft
 skills do not die out.'