Mad Month…!

Well if there was ever a time I could call mad, it has most definitely been this month! I have grown up in a mad household on a farm with 5 brothers and sisters, and sheep! That is hard to top for madness, but this month has topped it. You can see we are quite the team below, I didn’t even mention the dogs, absolute vital members of our farming family.

We have been flat out manufacturing and taking orders throughout the month but the entire company can not believe this month is almost over. With a very successful summer with plenty of work with Fortis earning its way as well as gaining a trademark we all feel a turning in the tide. The company is growing, we all know it and we are all excited about it. There is not many businesses that started from a farming background, got sick of getting wet in substandard kit and decided to set off on a path of adventure, a venture to make the best kit possible for the outdoor men and woman, all with a sheep farmers budget.

When starting off converting our hay and lamb barn into a clothing factory I do believe most farmers in the local area thought us mad! But Dad kicked on and took the risk, the lamb barn started with a cutter and a seamstress in the old stable conversion. It now compliments a full sewing team with cutters and full time designers in an extension to the barn. The Barn is now our Shop! (See photos below)

We are growing because we are in demand but with that comes dangers, the dangers that only supply and demand can cause. We need to increase our staff numbers due to demand but in order to do that we need to increase our manufacturing space and in order to do that we need to pay for it but most of all, we need to find the people with the skill sets required (Hardest part about manufacturing)! We do not want to become a victim of our own success and so we must build slowly, as they say Rome was not built in a day. We are lucky that our customer base understands that we make this all in Devon and we are a growing family company, but the bigger we get the more people we meet that do not understand this. We are aiming to hold more stock and stock more places in our kit but this will take time. We promise to become bigger, faster and better.

This month has been full of surprises, orders and deliveries. This will hopefully continue, with the support we receive and the feedback we get about our kit, our website and us as a company in general is rewarding and the staff love to hear it, and see it in photos.

I would therefore ask to keep supporting us, understand that quality takes time and we promise to get faster but for now please bear with us. Also on a note of orders, I have never before seen so many people order gaiters! Incredible amount of orders so thank you to all that have given people the link to our gaiters.

I hope you have all had a cracking November as we have!

Best wishes

Oliver Massy-Birch

Fortis® Director