A Somerset woollen and worsted cloth mill, in business since 1772 and known for creating flannel, supplying tailors and fashion houses from Tone Mill in Wellington.
Fox Brothers makes woollen and worsted cloth, the fabric that tailors and designers turn into suits, coats and jackets. It describes itself as the maker of "the finest woollen and worsted fabric in Somerset, England". It is credited with creating flannel, and its motto is "If It's Not Fox, It's Not Flannel". It offers seasonal collections and limited-edition cloths and supplies luxury fashion houses, well-known tailors and film studios. It also holds an archive of cloth patterns going back to the late 1700s.
The business started in 1772, when Thomas Fox set up a serge partnership with his grandfather Thomas Were in Wellington, Somerset. In 1796 it moved to a former flour mill at Tonedale beside the River Tone, and the site grew with new looms and steam power. At its early twentieth-century peak the firm employed around 5,000 people, and it was run by the Fox family for seven generations. In 1918 it helped introduce khaki dye, and during the First World War it made large amounts of khaki for the army. In 2009 Deborah Meaden and Douglas Cordeaux took over with the aim of preserving and restoring "the sound of Great Britain making stuff".
Fox Brothers is based at Tone Mill in Wellington in Somerset, where its fabric is still made. The town is in the south west of England, and the company's long link with it means that many local families have had a connection with the mill. The Coldharbour Mill Working Wool Museum in Devon holds exhibits about the Fox Brothers' story, which shows the company's place in the wider story of West Country wool. We did not find a London showroom in the pages we read.
On culture, the company's own wording points to craft and pride in British making. The 2009 owners' aim of keeping alive "the sound of Great Britain making stuff" is the clearest statement of its values that we found. We could not find reliable information about its current staff numbers or day-to-day working life, so we have not described them. The firm sits between farms and fashion: wool comes in and cloth goes out to designers and tailors, so it works closely with creative customers.
A cloth mill needs weavers, loom technicians, dyers and finishers, people who inspect cloth for faults, pattern designers and colour specialists, sales and customer teams who talk to tailors and brands, and staff in finance and logistics. If you like textiles, design, engineering or the story behind the clothes you wear, a mill like this shows how fabric is really made. The company website lists current opportunities.
Website: www.foxflannel.com
PURPOSE helps school and university students explore 62 sectors and over 1,000 entry-level careers in the UK, then connects them directly with employers.
Explore PURPOSE