We had the pleasure of meeting up with Andy in London to discuss mens’ fashion, shoes and all things sartorial. His passion for the subject shone through and the number of visitors to his askandyaboutclothes.com forum is simply staggering. Herring has a loyal following on the forum and we wanted to meet the man behind the site to learn more about him and what drives him. Andy has created a welcoming place for men to discuss everything about mens’ formal fashion and before he had the idea to put his book onto the internet and then founded the forum, there was no one else catering to US gents. We are delighted to feature Andy as a real gentleman’s gentleman. He was unfailing courteous to everyone he met and showed a very good sense of humour. Just our kind of guy! Andy was happy to wear a pair of our Matisse loafers in the photos.

Tim Hipwell is the owner of a gorgeous custom liveried Aston Martin in the Gulf racing colours. He was happy to bring his fabulous car down to our Devon base so we could take some shots with our Gulf styled driving moccasin. Along with our Grigio Silverstone and British Racing Green editions, these moccasins are proving very popular. A huge thank you to Tim for his time on the day and for letting us see his wonderful car up close and personal.

Alastair Gibson is a rising star in the art world with a uniquely recognisable style of sculpture. Alastair’s work incorporates elements from his Formula 1 experience, a love of engineering and a deep rooted fascination with the organic design of marine species and other animals.

Alastair has worked in several Formula 1 teams culminating in the position of race team chief mechanic for BAR Honda alongside Jenson Button. His ability to use carbon to create his flowing artworks, came from making pit-lane equipment for the team. This foundation gave him the skills to be able to create his art, but he also needed the courage and self-belief to walk away from a job at the pinnacle of his profession and risk everything to pursue a new career. With many of his pieces also incorporating recycled Formula 1 car parts it is no surprise that motorsport lovers have been eagerly collecting his work. He counts many famous names from Formula 1 as owners of his unique pieces.

We were delighted to see Alastair at his latest show at the Drang Gallery in Salcombe where we took some photos alongside the Hydro Octo, Aero Manta, Mako Shark and other stunning sculptures. We think a Herring would be a great addition to the marine inspired line-up too!

Sir Geoff Hurst is the only man to have scored a hat-trick in a football World Cup Final, which he did in 1966, the same year that Herring Shoes was established. We are very proud that Sir Geoff is a Herring brand ambassador and helped us celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2016. It is amazing to see him wearing our shoes as he travels the country supporting youth football in his role as a british sporting icon and McDonalds Director of Football.

We were honoured to meet such a towering figure of English sport and find him so polite, considerate and warm. There is a saying that you should never meet your idols, but in this case it was an absolute pleasure. Sir Geoff’s passion for football seems undimmed fifty years after that famous final, just like our passion for shoes.

Matt Bardock, a well known and loved actor on British TV, was kind enough to come down to Herring during his busy filming schedule for his latest series to get some more shoes. Matt’s first purchase, a while ago, was the Herring Dartmoor brogue with tweed and he thinks they are extremely lucky shoes. He wore them to the casting for the Coroner and obviously he got the gig! During the last series he wore our Canning shoe and he has just left us with the Fursdon and Redbridge. Keep your eyes peeled on the next series and you might see them crop up.

It was a delight to show Matt the warehouse, introduce him to the team and share our passion for shoes with a gentleman who also appreciates the craft and history of every pair. We finished off Matt’s visit with a few photos and some serious petrol-head chat. We are looking forward to seeing him again when our beautiful part of South Devon isn’t quite so wet.

Ed Stephens of Shawstephens cabinet makers in South Devon is a passionate master craftsman. Ed’s workshop is a homage to all things wooden with the lovely smell of wood shavings and the quiet noises of hand tools being used. This,, however, is a very forward thinking design studio. Ed uses both very old and very new machinery to create unusual and utterly bespoke carpentry solutions for discerning clients.

This similarity to our hand crafted British shoes made Herring a natural choice for Ed. We are, therefore, delighted that he chooses to wear our shoes.

Alex Gregory MBE is one of a very select number of British Olympians who have won two gold medals. He was a member of the coxless four that famously won a gold medal at the British Olympics in 2012 at the London Games and again won in Rio in 2016. Alex has since retired from competitive rowing and has made a record breaking Polar Row which enabled him to row further north than anyone has ever done before.

Alex was kind enough to meet us at Leander club in Henley where the elite British men train, and we fitted him with some of our fabulous shoes and socks. The famous Henley Royal Regatta course is shown in the background of some of the images.

Richard, the owner of Trafford yachts and Tom the head of sales, were delighted to show us their fabulous new Jeanneau NC11 in Plymouth dock. Both are Herring customers and are seen wearing our Fastnet deck shoe.

As a business selling millions of pounds worth of high quality yachts every year we are delighted that they choose our high quality products for their feet.

George Banister and Will Vickery are cousins with a passion for high quality craftsmanship. They appreciate the care and skill that goes into every pair of Herring Shoes, particularly the Gosforth you can see them wearing.

We met with them at their workshops in Somerset where they create stunning Shepherd’s Huts to bespoke designs.

Originally conceived hundreds of years ago, Shepherd Huts first hit popularity in the Victorian era. The huts were made up on farms with whatever was to hand, if there was a resident carpenter then it would have involved mainly wood, if you had a blacksmith then it would have been more metal.

Today George and William are breathing new life into this traditional market, in much the same way we are helping new generations to discover the joy that traditionally crafted shoes can bring.

Kev Twigger is a veteran of the British Army who left in 2001 after serving 22 years with the Royal Signals. Kev and his fiancé Jo got married in the Autumn of 2016. Kev wanted to design something special and unique for their special day. So, as a customer of Herring, Kev made an enquiry about purchasing 5 meters of the same tweed we use on our Herring Dartmoor shoes for his special project. We were happy to oblige. Kev then had a bespoke three piece suit made in Herring tweed. As you can see from the photos Kev and Jo looked stunning on their special day and we are delighted to have been of help.

David Fitzgerald is a well-known face and voice around the south west. He is beamed into our living rooms on a regular basis as an anchor man for BBC Spotlight and has his own weekday radio show on BBC Devon, but his passions far outstrip his broadcasting prowess.

In complete contrast to his broadcasting life, which began in commercial radio in the 1980s, David is more than happy to dip out of the spotlight to follow his passion for wildlife and birdwatching.

Hot on the heels of a trip to Loch Long, David was eager to share his first sighting of a golden eagle.
He said: “It is a most magnificent creature; a light aircraft with a beak!”

David`s passion for birds and other wildlife has taken him across the world but he gets his fair share of exposure from his home in Ivybridge where he is delighted to report the bird of prey species, the kite, is gradually making its way down the A38.

Aside from writing scripts for TV, quiz questions and articles for local publications, David is a regular presenter for Children in Need and is a staunch supporter of the Devon Air Ambulance charity.

David has multiple interests but sometimes it is a single action that provides a clear insight into a person`s beliefs and character. David marched at the Cenotaph to mark Remembrance Sunday and the 100 years since the end of the First World War…but he wasn`t alone.

Of course, there were hundreds of active and retired servicemen and women by his side, but he had a particular companion. He led a blind veteran whose former guides had passed away.

He said: “This lovely lady was telling me that she would be unable to attend the march and I found myself saying I would do it with her.”

This mere mention of this volunteer role came up in passing as David relayed the details of his friendship with Falklands war hero Simon Weston CBE, who he has written four children`s books with and met with on Remembrance Sunday. Abundantly confident in his speaking skills, David was a little nervous about the Cenotaph march but knew former Welsh Guard Simon would give him some excellent pointers!

Herring Shoes was humbled to learn David wore a pair of our shoes for the march. It was a momentous occasion and David marked it in an honourable, practical and very human way; someone needed help and he stepped in. Lest we forget.

David is also pictured wearing the classic Richmond brogue in tan, one of our most popular styles.

Simon Weston CBE is a veteran of the British Army who became well known throughout the United Kingdom for his recovery and charity work after suffering 46 percent burn injuries during the Falklands War.

Simon is a highly respected speaker, whose talks on overcoming adversity and self belief are inspirational. He is also a very funny man with a great sense of humour which made it a priviledge to meet him.

As a customer of Herring, Simon was delighted to have the chance to meet up and have his shoes fitted. We met up at the stunning Malston Mill holiday cottages down here in South Devon.

In April 2016 we were delighted to fit Simon’s son James and wedding party with more Herring shoes for his upcoming wedding.

Lee Butler started out with an apprenticeship with Westley Richards before becoming E.J. Churchill workshop foreman in 1999.

Since 2012 he has been making guns under his own name and carries out action work for many ‘Best Gun’ makers, including work under contract from E.J. Churchill. He works from the original E.J.Churchill workshops in High Wycombe, where we met him to fit him with some Herring shoes.

It takes around 1200 hours to produce a shotgun by hand so he is well positioned to appreciated the 200 operations that go into a pair of our english handmade shoes.

At Herring we always applaud passion, craftsmanship and Britishness. In Lee Butler we met a man who embodies all of those things.

Jahmene Douglas is a soul and gospel singer that captivated us on the X Factor in 2012. He came second and released his beautiful debut album “Love Never Fails” in 2013.

We visited him at his flat in London to fit him with some more of the Herring shoes that he loves and took the opportunity to find out more about his future plans which sound very exciting. He was an absolute gentleman and it was great to see how much he loves his shoes.

Jahmene is absolutely committed to his music in the same way that we are to the shoe business so it was a really uplifting experience to meet him.

We are really looking forward to his next album!

You will see the Shackleton two-tone shoe along with the Monarch slipper and Hyde two-tone in the slideshow.

Timmy Mallett is a household name in the UK, famous for his children’s TV shows in the 1990’s. He now runs his own TV production company but what is really amazing about Timmy is his success as an artist.

Mallett won the Fine Art Trade Guild Award for Best Up and Coming Artist 2012. Timmy`s artwork is recognised worldwide and his work is widely collected.

You can see a pair of our shoes that Timmy customised in his own unique way in the photos. As Timmy said, “The shoes are like an artwork – Utterly Brilliant!”

John is the man that runs DHL all over europe so we were very pleased that he chose Herring shoes. When he came for a fitting we asked him some questions.

What makes you passionate about what you do?….

I think that builds and changes over time. When you have worked for a company for a long time – its a combination of many things. Looking to make things better for customers, helping people make their own way in the company, getting good results and knowing you work for the most international company in the world !

What makes DHL the ideal company to fulfill that passion?….

We are open, practical and give people a lot of room to move. Different people have different passions to fulfill and this style allows for that. The lines on the pitch are drawn out but how you are able to play within that is up to you.

How does DHL help Herring to grow?

To be honest I think its a great match. We have a shared goal of quality and loyalty. What’s more Herring have customers in all four corners of the world and our network allows companies that reach and to break into new markets they may not be in. Moreover we have a great local team that feels close to the business and deliver what’s needed.

What makes Herrings stand out as a business and as a shoe maker?

Its an easy question for me because I have had the benefit of seeing the operation “at first hand” – You get the feeling that every pair of shoes has been seen, touched and checked by the people that run the business. It’s a great example of a small team that pushes for quality and customer satisfaction. I cant think that many people buy a different brand once they have bought a pair !

Lastly, they are based in a great part of the world so that makes driving down and picking up a pair pretty enjoyable !

Jaz shot to fame with his acapella rendition of ordinary people on “The Voice”. His moving singing brought Will.i.am who wrote the song, to tears.

Jaz was then a semi-finalist in the competition and won many people’s hearts. Unsurprisingly there has been a lot of interest in his musical career and we were excited to get a preview of his new single!

When it is released we will update this page with details.

Kay Tokner was born and raised in Bad Kreuznach, Germany.
He started playing the piano at the age of three. Since then he has sung in the world famous choir “Regensburger Domspatzen” and become a composer.

He specialises in composing corporate music that tries to convey a company’s message musically and emotionally. He creates corporate music themed events and live piano events.

John Hagger is the founder of Tanner Bates in South West Devon.

Based in Dartington, John creates beautiful products from a special material called Oak-bark leather. He makes the Herring Oak-bark belt for us and we took a video of the process for you to enjoy below.

Oak-bark leather is made by placing the leather into large pits with water and Oak-bark chippings – no chemicals are used whatsoever. The tanning process then takes upto 18 months. This makes the leather very hard wearing and flexible. The perfect belt material in fact.

Please take a look at John’s website to see the other leather goods he has on offer.

Professor Greg Whyte, a former international modern pentathlete, competed in two Olympic Games and is a European and World Championship medalist. He is an expert in the field of sports science, graduating from Brunel University; He furthered his studies with an MSc in human performance and completed his PhD at St. Georges Hospital Medical School.

Greg is well-known for his involvement in Comic Relief, since 2006 Greg has applied his sports science work to assist various celebrities in completing some of the toughest challenges. Greg has trained, motivated and successfully coached the comedian David Walliams to swim across the English Channel and recently the entire length of the Thames; James Cracknell to run, cycle and swim to Africa; Cheryl Cole, Chris Moyles and Gary Barlow to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro; Eddie Izzard to run a remarkable 43 marathons in 50 days and more recently Christine Bleakley to waterski across the Channel, as well as a whole team of celebrities, including Dermot O`Leary, to cross the driest desert in Africa.