Made in Britain

The August issue of Equestrian Trade News included a feature on Made in Britain and met some “major players” with reasons to celebrate being British. One of them was Ideal!

ETN gave a brief history of the company which I summarise here.

Founded in 1986, Ideal today employs 73 skilled craftsmen and women across two manufacturing sites. In 2007 Ideal purchased Walsall Riding, itself established in 1946. More recently Ideal purchased Beebee & Beebee, saddle tree makers since 1870. Ideal also purchased out of administration, the (Barnsby) patterns, now made under the Barclay brand, from Jabez Cliff Company. This year saw another acquisition, that of Aulton & Butler, saddle tree makers since 1955. So, not only are Ideal one of the largest saddlery manufacturers in Walsall, they can also claim to have more tree blocks and patterns than any other company in the world!