AEMakespets: The Traditional Leather Lead Company

AEMakespets: The Traditional Leather Lead Company

I'm Paul, but I'm also known by many nicknames!

These days I am known professionally as 'The Traditional Leather Lead Company'. I am a one man band, based in rural Warwickshire and have been working with leather since before I became a teenager. In those days I was a falconer and learned to use leather and the associated tools to craft my own jesses, gloves, hoods, lures and bags for myself and my birds. 32 years ago I made my first dog lead from a length of English bridle leather that I bought from a saddler. I still use that lead today.

Many years later, I started making leads for other people when I was asked "Where did you get that from?". That was the seed that grew into The Traditional Leather Lead Company.

I've spent my entire life training, working and handling dogs in disciplines ranging from agility, competition obedience, sheep dog work, gun work, running dogs and falconry.

On leaving college, I undertook a three year apprenticeship as a Guide Dog Mobility Instructor, before finally following my heart and becoming a Policeman. After a few years I managed to gain a position on the dog section, fulfilling my lifelong dream of becoming a Police dog handler. After handling and training dogs to safely guide visually impaired people, search for game, drugs, explosives, bed bugs, tobacco, criminals, missing people, discarded property, cash, to all of the bite work and handler protection required of 'the big dogs', I realised that a handler's equipment must be up to the job.

Trust me when I say that the first few items I made were a mess! My stitching was all over the place and my patterns needed some work, but I was proud of what I had made and wanted to make more, so I could get better......so I did! Over time, with a lot of practice, a lot of blood loss and a lot of swearing, I started to perfect my stitching and develop my own methods and techniques which began to leave me with fewer cuts and fewer scars! By hand stitching with a saddler's clam, an awl and 2 needles, I pay acute attention to each individual stitch made, using a technique which ultimately results in a far superior and stronger stitch than those made by any machine.

Ultimately, I am the Chief cook and bottle washer. My 'quality control' process is simple, 'If I wouldn't use it, it doesn't leave the workshop'.

Since making leather things as a full time job, my main source of work comes from my website  where I make equipment for companion dog owners. I also currently supply 24 UK Police dog sections with leather equipment, countless security dog handling companies, several HM Prison dog units, and numerous overseas law enforcement dog units. My target market is working dog handlers and companion animal owners who want decent kit!

What do you love most about running your business?

Absolutely everything!

I work from home on a daily basis, so I am always here for my kids. My commute to the workshop is 20 seconds if I go the long way!

It also means that I'm the internal postman, so when the doorbell rings, I'm the one who has to drop tools and race to the front door in order to meet Michael, George, Francesco, or Graham, depending on which delivery company comes knocking. That can be annoying when my Daughter has ordered some pony related 'matchy-matchy' stuff and I'm in the middle of making a tracking harness, but to be fair to Michael, George, Francesco and Graham, they always meet me at the back gate, or just launch the package over it! On the other hand, I've never missed a school sports day and I've been able to work around picking the future Charlotte Dujardin up from school at 1515, so that she can compete at 1827!

What I most love though is being able to form a relationship with my customers and be completely honest with them. Honesty is absolutely everything where I'm concerned and if I feel that a piece of equipment they want me to make won't serve their needs, I'll tell them and come up with another solution, rather than just chase a sale.

Which Abbey product or tool is your must-have or favourite?

Product wise, this has to be a good old, simple brass billet! These tiny things have transformed the way I make my half-check dog collars, really making them stand out from the rest, I love them!

Tool wise, I love my Osborne round knife. It's my go-to knife for pretty much anything leather. It gets a strop each morning and the carbon steel blade keeps a very keen edge.

Which skill do you feel you have perfected in the workshop?

This has to be the saddle stitch. I was awful at it when I first started, but I quickly learned that good, accurate stitching really makes a piece of leatherwork stand out.
Having been hand stitching now for 30 years, I can almost do it with my eyes closed (that's given me an idea for a video!).

I find the rhythm of stitching very therapeutic. I'll often get in the workshop, whack on Heart 80's and stitch away while singing along.

Have you got a new product or a new project coming up soon that you’d like to tell us about?

I have just launched a range of padded and lined dog collars, on the back of making my Daughter a lined and padded competition bridle as a Christmas present.

The idea is to offer a selection of coloured nappa linings, along with matching coloured thread, to make something more individual for their dogs. Again, this is why stitching to me is so important as one stitch at the wrong angle will ruin the aesthetic of the finished piece.

We can see that you love animals – would you tell us about one or two that hold a special place in your heart

I'm a dog man, always have been and as such every dog I've ever owned, trained, worked and handled holds a special place.

The one that I think of daily is my old Police dog 'Zico'. We spent years together as a team, hunting down bad guys. I spent more time with him than I did with my wife, we could read each other like a book.
He helped save several lives in his time with me and was responsible for very many arrests. His picture hangs in my lounge, alongside that of my retired explosive search dog 'Joe'.

I still talk to them late at night when everyone else has gone to bed. I love them both to bits and miss them incredibly.

Why is it important to you to hand-make and to source British products?

Most small craft based businesses like mine rely on UK sales to survive. As such, I feel that it is important that I support the UK manufacturing trades by buying materials from UK sources. I know that I can pick up the phone if I'm not sure about something and ask the makers directly.

Fundamentally though, in the world I live and work in, I am helping to keep traditional skills and crafts alive. From casting in the brass house, to hand finishing a piece of bridle leather at the tannery, it all helps. Without those traditional skills, my business wouldn't be here and for that I am eternally grateful.

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