Born and bred in Northampton, the historical centre of the British shoemaking and leather industries, childhood friends Mark Jeffery and Guy West were surrounded by tradition and history from the word go, even more so for Mark as his father ran the family owned shoe factory in the town. Perhaps not a surprise therefore that they would go on to build an international footwear brand, but the fact that they began their first business as sixteen year olds - selling shoes on various markets - shows remarkable prescience and motivation. At first, as Guy explains, “Mark and I would buy rejects and ends of lines from factories around Northampton, including his dad's, and offer them as they were or customise them to sell them on.”
