Investment in three ingredients is key to UK-made success.
When Racesafe acquired Thermatex and NuuMed earlier this year, the company pledged to continue making the rugs and saddle pads in the UK.
Now the company is gearing up its Northamptonshire factory for Thermatex and NuuMed production alongside its Racesafe body protectors.
But how does Racesafe make British manufacturing work when others appear to struggle?
“Not easily,” managing director James How told ETN.
“We’ve built Racesafe around being made in Britain, and with rising labour, material and energy costs, you can understand why many brands have ‘given best’ and moved production overseas.
“However, if you believe the benefits are worth it - as we do - then the only real option is to double down.”
Three ingredients
Racesafe is a family firm founded more than 50 years ago by James’s grandparents, Peter and Ann How.
Having joined 14 years ago, James has made it his mission to invest in process, people and technology. And those three ingredients have proved key to Racesafe’s continued British-made success story.
“Over the last few years, we’ve modernised production and introduced new technologies that support the next generation of products,” says James. “It allows us to control quality, react quickly and keep evolving.
There’s also a “responsibility element” to the 40 local people Racesafe employs. “That’s something we’re proud of and take seriously,” says James.
But do customers care?
Being British-made“still carries real weight, particularly with safety products where trust and quality are critical.
“That said, it can’t just be a label. The product must stand up on its own first,” adds James.
“It becomes more meaningful when people understand what sits behind it – the people, the processes, and the level of care that goes into making it.
“That’s something we try to show more of, particularly through retailer engagement and open days. If retail staff have seen how something is made, it adds far more credibility than simply saying “British-made.”
Racesafe has evolved hugely since James’s grandparents’ days when it was fondly known as ‘How’s’.
But with manufacturing still happening just ten miles from its original site – an old shoe factory in Northamptonshire – its British-made spirit remains undimmed.
- Read the full interview with James How in ETN’s In the Hot Seat feature in May issue.
