Look inside South Shields Barbour factory which makes 650 jackets every day

Barbour International welcome film crews and presenter Gregg Wallace to the South Shields clothing factory where 650 waxed jackets are produced every day.

In the episode of Inside the Factory, which will air on Tuesday, August 6, at 8pm, Greg follows the production of water-resistant jackets from the arrival of 500-metre-long rolls of undyed cotton through to dispatch.

The company began in 1894 in the Market Place in South Shields. Now the fifth generation family owned business remains in the North East, with Barbour's headquarters located in Simonside, South Shields.

And the products they make are sold in Barbour retail stores in over 40 countries worldwide including the United States, Germany, Holland, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, New Zealand and Japan.

Although it sources products from around the globe, its classic wax jackets are still manufactured by hand and each year more than 100,000 jackets are processed.

A TV crew descended on the factory for two days of filming in January this year.

Ian Sime, director of supply chain, said: “We were approached by Voltage TV, the production company that produces Inside the Factory for the BBC and asked if we would like to be part of the series.

“As it is Barbour’s 125th anniversary this year, we felt it was a good time to be able to celebrate the making of our iconic waxed jackets and all of the hard work that our team undertake in the factory.

“We are very proud that we continue to manufacture our traditional wax jackets in South Shields and Inside the Factory is a great opportunity to show the viewers the work and detail that goes into making a Barbour jacket.

“It was a pleasure to meet Gregg and to show him around the factory. He was genuinely interested, asked plenty of questions and even had a go at some of the tasks - under supervision from the team!”