Retailers slam communications as consumers mourn favourite hats.
Sadness was the overwhelming reaction from retailers and riders on hearing that Charles Owen is to cease UK manufacturing.
The riding hat brand has confirmed to ETN that its plans “do not include making the current models again in the UK.”
Charles Owen has made hats in Britain for more than 115 years. Now its Wrexham factory is to close, the company blaming the expiry of its lease on the premises.
Manufacturing is due to cease on 19 December. The deadline for retailers to make their last orders passed on Friday, 14 November.
COMFG Ltd T/A Charles Owen is the holder of a Royal Warrant by Appointment to HM The King as a protective headwear manufacturer.
The brand’s ‘team riders’ include Zara Tindall and Ros Canter.
Redundancies are “inevitable,” says the company (see ETN’s interview with CEO Dave Derby below). In 2024, an average of 90 people including directors were employed by COMFG Ltd.
Statement leaks
Charles Owen’s countdown to closure, outlined in a statement sent to retailers and wholesalers last week, was quickly leaked to consumers via social media.
Some Charles Owen fans suggested it must be a scam or simply the announcement of a pause in production.
Others expressed views ranging from sadness to anger and desperation at losing “the only hats that fit me,” saying “I can’t ride in anything else” and sharing concern for the loss of a great British brand they trust to keep them safe.
There was anguish from users of traditional velvet show hats like the Charles Owen Fian, one suggesting “it’ll be panic buying this weekend, like toilet rolls when Covid started.”
Charles Owen followed its trade statement with a public announcement on social media confirming to consumers that “we will cease making any products currently made in our UK factory.”
The brand added: “We will be continuing with products we have been making outside of the UK for some time now such as Kylo, Phoenix, Kontor, Eclipse and Shadow...”
Retailer reaction
“Unbelievable and very sad,” said Matt Severn from Nottinghamshire retailer Manor Equestrian.
Speaking ahead of the issue of Charles Owen’s public statement, he added: “The way it’s been communicated lacked transparency for retailers or consumers. I don’t think the public realised [initially] that it’s the end of Charles Owen.
“Champion must be the only [British hat manufacturer] left,” added Matt. “and evoke have given [Charles Owen] a run for their money in a big way, especially in how they’ve supported the trade.
“We’ve been left with 48 hours to get our last orders in [for Charles Owen hats]. But you have to wonder how long the changes [at Charles Owen] have been known about.
“Charles Owen is an equestrian staple brand. Our retail manager Jade [Coupe] has ridden in their hats since she was four, and she’s now 34. And there are many like her.”
At Ingatestone Saddlery Centre in Essex, Lynda Mortlock’s first reaction was how disappointed Charles Owen’s late chairman Roy Burek [see company history below] would have been.
“I have some sympathy for them if the lease has run out from a business point of view,” she said, “but they must have known the lease would run out some years ago – so there’s been some lack of preparation there, which there’s no excuse for.
“I can appreciate the trauma they are experiencing with manufacturing. But the communication isn’t good.
“Maybe they always intended to send the manufacturing abroad? But the [imported] hats situation is ridiculous, you’re looking at six to nine months for delivery. Back in the day from Wrexham, we’d order [Charles Owen] hats on a Monday and they’d be here by Friday, guaranteed.
“This just opens the door for more foreign imports. But if that’s all we can get, that’s all we can sell.”
Lynda is concerned about the disappearance of Charles Owen’s traditional velvet hats. “It will cause chaos for the showing world. There just isn’t anything else on the market.”
ETN asks Dave Derby, CEO of COMFG Limited…
ETN: Following the issue of your statement to retailers, there seems to be some confusion about whether Charles Owen hats will continue to be available after a pause or stop completely. Please can you clarify whether production is to be moved elsewhere in the UK or abroad or whether it is ceasing?
Dave Derby: The statement issued to our retail and wholesale partners clearly states that UK production of the current Charles Owen helmets will cease in December.
As you can imagine, we have had to pivot very quickly and develop both new short and long term strategies for our world famous brand. These do not include making the current models again in the UK.
Some of our current models are iconic, and we will be looking to potentially reinvent and relaunch them at an appropriate time in the future. A new location is required to ensure the team have a base to work from in order to achieve this, as well as maintain distribution of our outsourced products.
ETN: Some retailers are saying that there has not been sufficient transparency about the future supply of Charles Owen hats. What would you say to them?
DD: There will always be a level of ambiguity when a beloved brand makes an unprecedented statement of this nature, but we have answered any questions we have been asked when our partners have contacted us.
ETN: Are staff at your Wrexham factory to be retained or made redundant when it closes?
DD: This is largely an internal matter. However inevitably there will be redundancies with a change of this size, but a core team will remain.
ETN: Do you share the general overwhelming feeling of sadness that this could be the end of a great British equestrian brand?
DD: It is worth remembering that the brand remains in the hands of the family of the original founder, so nobody has a more profound sense of sadness in making this announcement than the owners, board, and employees of Charles Owen. The brand remains, although we are aware this is a challenging time for all.
ETN: Is there anything else you would like to share with ETN readers?
DD: While this has undoubtedly been a difficult few weeks, the contact we have had following the announcement has been overwhelmingly supportive.
No brand has done more to promote and progress equestrian safety than Charles Owen for decades. However, all businesses have to change, as we have during the last few years.
There are new competitors in this sector of retail every year, and the introduction of our EQx range was welcomed with open arms by retailers and riders alike in 2023.
While the closure of the current Wrexham site is not a planned change, it is a change we will make the best of for our partners, our loyal supporters, and the brand itself, in order to continue that core message of safety first.
Charles Owen – a potted history
It was a mechanic from East London named Charles Owen who began it all.
After attending hat-making night classes, he created his first tropical pith helmet in 1911. Military helmets followed with Charles Owen supplying the British Army throughout the First World War.
The company then expanded into protective headwear for motorsports.
Charles Owen died in 1932, leaving his wife Francis and daughter Zena to run the family business. Zena married Walter Burek in 1946. A Polish national, he had escaped a Second World War prisoner of war camp and arrived in the UK.
Under Walter’s direction, Charles Owen became a world leader in motorcycle helmet manufacture.
Walter’s son, Roy Burek, joined the business in 1981. A scientist who studied chemistry at Oxford, Roy became a passionate advocate for equestrian safety and steered Charles Owen to become a leading international brand in the sector.
Roy died suddenly in 2019, and the family company passed to the fourth generation, his son Owen Burek.
