Reviving British shoemaking: Why footwear brand Lanx prioritises factory capacity over retail expansion

Around a decade ago, when Marco Vaghetti began researching Lancashire’s shoemaking history, the county’s manufacturing industry was already in steep decline. Once home to around 200 shoe factories, Lancashire had just a handful of manufacturers remaining. Eight years after founding Lanx, Vaghetti has established a footwear brand with its own factory and repairs workshop, employing 60 people in Lancashire.

“I started to fall in love with footwear and the idea that someone could potentially turn the tide and bring shoemaking back to Lancashire,” Vaghetti told FashionUnited. “When I set out to create Lanx eight or nine years ago, there were five or six manufacturers in the area. Now there's only Lanx.”

While the founder acknowledges that the business alone cannot single-handedly reverse the wider decline in local shoemaking, he hopes its presence can encourage other brands to invest in domestic production.

The business, founded in 2018, combined contemporary footwear with British manufacturing and heritage. Four of its six footwear collections are made in the UK, alongside its accessories. Its Artisan collection, for example, is manufactured in England using leather from Leeds-based tannery Charles F. Stead, while the brand’s AW26 offering includes the new Axis boot collection, developed around the Lancashire community.

It's a strategy that is also proving commercially successful. Lanx is currently an 11 million to 12 million pound turnover business, with annual growth of around 20 to 30 percent in recent years and some years reaching 40 percent. Vaghetti said its UK-made products are seeing the strongest growth, supported by the stories the company can tell about its suppliers, materials and manufacturing processes.

British manufacturing faces structural challenges

Lanx’s progress comes amid renewed interest in UK manufacturing, as brands reassess sourcing strategies in response to geopolitical uncertainty and supply chain disruption. Across the apparel industry, initiatives such as Leicester Made & Regions and the imminent return of Make it British Live! reflect efforts to reconnect brands with domestic production capabilities.

Yet, as Vaghetti’s experience illustrates, rebuilding manufacturing capacity involves more than generating demand. Machinery, skilled labour and factory space all present practical challenges for businesses seeking to keep production local.

“There isn't a second-hand market in the UK for shoe machinery, so we've had to beg, steal and borrow machinery from other UK manufacturers,” he said. Lanx has acquired equipment from factories that have closed in the region, while also investing in new machinery from Italy. Finding engineers able to repair the equipment locally remains difficult and expensive.

The skills pipeline presents another obstacle. Rossendale, where the business is based, once had a dedicated footwear course to serve the area’s large number of shoe factories. That training route has since disappeared, however, leaving fewer opportunities for younger generations to learn the trade.

Lanx has recruited experienced workers who previously worked in the industry, alongside younger employees who have trained through Timpson. While Vaghetti said the business is not currently struggling to recruit, he highlighted the disparity between interest in digital roles and traditional manufacturing positions.

“If we advertise a social media job, we might get 300 applicants. If we advertise a cobbler role, we might get five or six,” he said. For now, the company’s focus is on retaining and developing its existing team, while making skilled factory roles as attractive as possible within its financial means.

Local suppliers strengthen the product story

Local supplier relationships are central to Lanx’s manufacturing model, both for practical reasons and as part of its brand positioning. Working with Charles F. Stead, for example, allows the business to discuss leather provenance with customers, inspect materials before production and respond more quickly if quality issues arise.

Its proximity to the tannery also gives Lanx greater flexibility around order quantities and storage. In place of holding large volumes of leather, the company can work with suppliers on smaller lots and explore opportunities to share production volumes with other brands. “If there's ever an issue, we can go and see them. If the leather isn't quite right, we can drive over and show them,” Vaghetti explained. “These are good relationships to have for many reasons.”

The company’s emphasis on British production also resonates with customers. Vaghetti said people travel from across the UK and abroad to visit its factory shop, while overseas interest often comes from expats or customers looking to connect with their British heritage. While Lanx does not actively market overseas, its online search data suggests international interest is increasing.

He added that the appeal of British-made footwear is not limited to provenance alone. The brand’s own factory and repairs workshop allow it to demonstrate how products are made and maintained, giving customers a more direct connection to the process.

Retail growth takes a back seat to infrastructure

Lanx currently operates a store in Manchester’s Northern Quarter and a factory shop at its Lancashire headquarters. The latter generates around three to four times more business than the Manchester location, according to Vaghetti, largely because customers can see the production process first-hand.

“People can walk from the shop into the factory, have a look around and see the shoes they're about to buy being made,” he said. The brand also participates in around 10 events across the UK each year, providing further opportunities for customers to experience the product in person.

Despite the success of its physical retail operations, Lanx is not currently planning further store openings. Instead, the next two years will involve investment in warehousing, office space and factory capacity, as the team and online business continue to grow.

“As the brand grows, we need more storage for the shoes we sell online,” Vaghetti said. “There's going to be a lot of investment in the next two years in the infrastructure of the business, including warehousing, office space and the factory. That's why we're not taking on any more retail.”

The business is also exploring a clothing collection, with the same emphasis on British-made products. In place of producing garments in-house, Lanx is speaking to suppliers and considering partnerships with existing factories within a few hours of its Lancashire base.

For Vaghetti, the priority remains growing the business without losing the manufacturing identity that has helped distinguish it in the market. The demand is there, he said, but sustaining British shoemaking will require investment in the people, machinery and facilities that make local production possible.