Chatterbox 0612 - Rotary Club of Belper

Meeting - 11th June
The Slenderella Story
by Gary Spendlove
At our meeting on 11th June we welcomed Gary and Gaynor Spendlove as
guests of Vernon Barnes. Gary had previously addressed the Club at a
meeting some years ago and so Vernon invited Gary to briefly retrace the
history of Brettles, the well known hosiery, socks and knitted goods manufacturer
and give an account of the Slenderella story to date.
Gary gave a brief account of the growth of Brettles from a partnership
formed in 1803 between George Brettle and John and William Ward up to 1973
when he joined the company, by which time it was owned by Courtaulds.
During the next 24 years the company’s fortunes declined culminating in Gary’s
redundancy, as Sales Director, in 1997 following the takeover by Chilprufe, a
major Leicester underwear producer.
Another company, Slenderella, had been founded in the East End of
London in the 1920’s and due to factors arising from the second world war
moved to South Shields where it grew to become a recognised national brand
and a major supplier to Marks and Spencer. Slenderella ceased trading in 1984
but the brand was retained by S Newman.
Shortly before leaving Brettles, Gary, together with five other managers
made a bid to buy Brettles but the parent company accepted the bid from
Chilprufe. As part of his redundancy deal Gary was able to purchase the Belper
factory shop and, shortly after that, acquired the Slenderella brand to form a
new company, Slenderella Wholesale. In 2002 Chilprufe was put into receivership
and the new company was able to acquire the Brettles brand and bring it
back to Belper.
Slenderella now own the established brand names Brettle, Chilprufe,
Kayser, Vedonis and some contrived ones; Slenders and Gaspe (derived from
Gary Spendlove). No manufacturing takes place in Belper but some takes place
in the East Midlands. The company is growing steadily and about 22% is exported.
Gary brought to the meeting some examples of the company’s products
which range through nightwear, hosiery, slips, thermal underwear, lingerie,
briefs, dressing gowns and bed jackets.
The talk was well received and a vote of thanks was given by a member
of the club.
8
David Henson