Gardiner Bros is no stranger to the fact that the shoe trade can be a hard business. Between the 60 strong members of staff there are hundreds of years of experience, and the Company itself has been running through three centuries, starting up in 1860. Alongside fellow partner wholesaler, Tutte and Thomas of Southampton, Gardiner Bros now distribute a wealth of fantastic brands including Dunlop, Dr Martens, Caterpillar, Timberland and Hunter, as well as distributing their own brands, Cotswolds Golf Shoes, Footsure, Centec. Amblers and Mirak.

Gardiner Bros began its humble life as a traditional tannery in Alvin Street, Gloucester. First tanning gloving leathers and progressing to harness leathers, before the advent of the motorcar brought about a change to shoe leather, and there began the traditional roots of the family run business as it stands today. Following the slow death of shoe repair in the 1960s, the Company embraced the wholesale business as vulcanised footwear was introduced and people began to throw away shoes and buy new ones. The Company now supplies shoes, bags and accessories across a broad range of sectors to the whole of the UK and Ireland and continues to be wholeheartedly family run. This year, they have employed a National Sales Manager to the firm, to streamline their Company sales, creating a modern day business with all of the important traditional values of an original "cobbler".

"I have worked at the firm since 1962" laughs Joylon Gardiner, "Without giving away my age, that is a very long time and I have witnessed many changes. I thoroughly enjoy it and so do all of the staff here. Nearly every member of staff has a longstanding relationship with customers which makes the team very dedicated."

It is no surprise to hear that dedication is the word on everyone's lips over at the Gloucester headquarters. The business is not only one of the longest serving in the trade, but it is almost completely family run, including extended family. The Company was started in 1870 when James Gardiner (1813-1893) installed his son Colston Gardiner (1847-1927). In the early years of the 1900’s Colston Gardiner’s three sons joined the Company. Henry Sharland Gardiner, Bernard Gardiner and Ashley Gardiner. Ashley was killed in the First World War and Bernard left the Company to set up his own business in the motor trade. Sharland (1877-1953) ran the Company through the 1920’s and 1930’s before being joined by his son James Gardiner (1907-1982). In 1962 James’s son Jolyon joined the Company later to be joined by his brother Peter Gardiner. Peter Gardiner’s son James joined the Company in 2001 and Jolyon Gardiner’s son Ben joined in 2003. Even their extended family form part of the Gardiner Bros empire; David Bush who runs Footsure Western,which operates in parallel with Gardiner Bros and sells the safety section of their wholesale business, is their mothers cousin and Bill Endacott who runs the Cotswold Golf Shoe range is their Grandfathers best friend's son.

Were the recent recruits to the business destined to work in the footwear trade, as father and fathers, father did? Initially, not. James Gardiner Joined the company some four and half years ago and was an accountant by trade, similarly, Ben Gardiner was surveyor before he was enticed to join the business with his father, uncle and cousins, so what encouraged him to follow his fathers footsteps?

"I realised that I wanted to be a part of the business," explains Ben "It was a business I knew how to take forward. I could learn from the best. Two gentlemen who have been in the trade for over 40 years. I get inspiration and knowledge passed on from them everyday."

The experience gained back in the 1860s is still very much relevant to today's practice. Many shoe repairers of the time, who had become strong associates with Gardiner Bros moved into the retail scene and now turn to them as suppliers of their finished footwear:

"At events like Moda and at stockrooms we meet with the sons and daughters and grand children of people my father my grand-fathers and great grand father may have worked with previously" says Ben. "it is one large close knit family, from colleague to customer, and we are constantly learning everyday."

This season is a real turning point for the Company, as they have chosen to streamline their business by, investing in a new telephone system and recruiting a non family member to oversee their sales force. Paul Wheeler, National Sales Manager, is of course, true to Gardiner Bros family tradition, no stranger to the Company. Paul worked for both the safety and non safety sides of the business before gaining experience at a clothing specialist in Manchester and then returning to Gloucester this year.

"Paul has been a breath of fresh air and has gelled the 9 strong sales force together. He is exceptionally enthusiastic, well contacted and loves to meet and interact with people" says Ben "This is a large step, financially and strategically for the Company as we strive to improve our service to retailers even further."

With its heritage, the Company is no stranger to the tough times in the trade, such as has been seen with the influx of cheap shoes from the Far East. As a wholesaler, they choose to offer a "pair by pair" ordering service, and emphasise the importance of quality of service and quality of product over the cheapest possible prices.

"Some customers are obviously pleased to buy in bulk for low costs and sometimes less quality product, but the customer base that we work with, prefer our pair by pair service." explains Joylon

"We tend to work with customers with the same ethos as us. They want a specific service in store and so are looking for shoes and bags with that extra something too..an unusual pair of shoes with a unique selling point that can not be bought on ‘the high street"

This emphasis on the quality of product and service is echoed in their increasing focus on independent stores and independent chain stores rather than high street multiple.

"We offer a whole service package that suits the independent, by offering storage for them in our warehouse and a number of personal extras that large chain stores are not interested in." Says Ben " Although we stock to a few mini multiples we are concerned to keep supporting the traditional independents"

Gardiner Bros shows its collections every season at Moda Footwear in Birmingham and then has showrooms located throughout the UK and Ireland, as well as inviting customers to pop into their headquarters in Gloucester. The Company offer a full in-stock reordering service as well, an important factor with difficult trading times and weather conditions. The modernisation of this historical company evident in their extensive computerised stock system which gives them the ability to locate and deliver stock as quickly as possible with ease, allowing for quick reordering, emphasising again the importance of service.

So what have Gardiner Bros got ‘hidden in their boots’ for the next 140 years, I hear you cry?

"The management team continue to strive to improve the efficiency of the Company with the aim of providing the best possible service to customers." says Ben, confidently.

An elusive answer, yes, but one that we can surely trust from a business with this kind of history. We look forward to their further UK expansion in 2008 and wish them the very best of luck for the years to come.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend