An Interview with Michael James, Owner of Springline last Manufacturers

I talked about last making company Springline for several times, as the founder of Sons of Henrey, Tom Brone developed his lasts with this company. This company is very well known in shoemaking industry and works with many prestigious brands.

Michael James is the manager and also shareholder of the company, he has been standing with the company for 36 years and loves the company as his child.

It is a great chance to look into the last last maker in UK.

Could you tell us more about the history of Springline as you official website does not disclose too much?

Springline was set up by Mr. Ken Tipping & Mr. Bill Saunders in 1983.

It was after an agressive mobbs miller bought and shut down Fineline Lasts who were based in St Michaels road in the centre of Northampton.

How many peoples are working in Springline and what are their roles? 

Springline currently employes 18 people. We reduced staff by 1/3rd after the 1st covid lock down. We hope to increase our staff autumn/winter 2021.

What is your journey in this industry?

I started work at springline in 1984 working in the factory and then moving into the modelroom to develope and design lasts

I am a director and shareholder of springline.

Springline has been working with shoe factories for a long time, and it touches end customers more and more, what is the logic behind this move?

Springline works with most of UK factories, many of which are high profile brands, Church’s, Tricker’s, Crockett & Jones, Edward Green and so on.

We also work with many brands that import shoes, Paul smith, L’coste, Vivienne Westwood to name a few. but this is for development only rather than bulk production.

We also work with many small start up businesses, hobbiest and students.

We all know bespoke shoemaker is very proud of their last making skills, and that is a very big selling point of bespoke shoes, how do you compare your end customer service with theirs? 

We also offer a bespoke service, measuring in the traditional way of foot drafts.

We are proud of the quality of our model making, manufacturing, bespoke and have a global reputation for fitting and styling.

Speaking about shoe tree business, Spring Line will definitely offer Lasted ones, but are the shoemakers happy with this? Or you have their approval?

We are the only shoe tree manufacturers in the UK. We offer branded shoe trees for the factories, stores and brands.

Lasted hinged shoe trees and universal twin tubes shoe trees are both available. We also do a bespoke shoe tree.

We never offer the branded trees to individuals, if someone contacts us for a John Lobb shoe tree we ask them to contact John Lobb.

A very technical question, for some lasts we need to size up and not for some others, what feature of the feet influence this?

This is usually because the brand has not uniformed its standards on last fitting, it is becoming more and more important to get the correct fittings  because of online sales, this will cut down on returns if the sizes and fittings are correct.

Satra has made a new global foot survey so we have lots of knowledge to get the fittings correct for different areas of the world.

You work with brands from different countries, do they have some special requirement other than English shoemakers? 

We offer a global development service and welcome all enquiries

Which three lasts are you most proud of designed by Springline? 

I am proud of many designs, there is a last named Rochester for Jeffery West, it’s so rock’n’roll.

Dr Martens 1460 boot, last number 59 is iconic and still going strong.

202 last for Edward Green again is so British, elegant but manly.

What is the business plan for the near future? 

To be the best at what we do and to train and teach as many students as I can before I retire.

Please say something to Chinese shoe factory/workshop/shoemaker and shoe lovers. 

To my dear Chinese friends, always strive to be good at what you do, you will get more joy in quality, not quantity.

Thank you for your time, God bless.