Friday 22 May 2015

The prestigious visit of HRH Princess Anne to Oxford Blue




1996, the roads blocked off and HRH’s security arriving early to do a preliminary check around our premises, the scene was set for one of the honours a business could achieve.

The Princess Royal, the second child and only daughter of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, was born at Clarence House, London, on 15 August 1950, when her mother was Princess Elizabeth, heir presumptive to the throne. She was baptised Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise at Buckingham Palace on 21 October 1950. 


She received the title Princess Royal from The Queen in June 1987; she was previously known as Princess Anne. Her Royal Highness is the seventh holder of the title.

Princess Anne had come to know about our export success through the BKC, Oxford Blue is heavily involved in exporting goods and strengthening the British economy by doing so, indeed, the unique selling point of Oxford Blue is that our garments of made in Britain, each of our garments have been carefully handcrafted by skilled British workers as a classic British country clothing brand should be - something a lot of our competitors cannot offer.

By helping the economy in such a manner, HRH decided it apt to visit our premises just outside the Birmingham city centre on Constitution Hill to take a look at the production of the renowned garments of Oxford Blue.


 HRH’s visit made it to the Evening Mail

Princess Anne was shown around the building and was introduced to all the staff from all departments, from the manufacturers, sales, suppliers and distributors the entire process was shown step by step of how the company HRH came especially to visit achieved their feats.






Various snapshots of the day


Oxford Blue exports many of its clothes to international markets in Europe, Asia and even in the USA, the style of classic British country clothing strikes well with those not residing within the UK, many like the novelty of tweed and the look and feel of British made wax jacket, not to say of course that the products do not sell well at home here in the UK, but in terms of export - harkening back to the reason why HRH came to visit the factory.

Along with HRH, other special guests included rugby legend William "Bill" Blackledge Beaumont CBE (born 9 March 1952, Chorley, Lancashire, England) was captain of the England rugby union team as a lock, at a time when they struggled to win games, his greatest moment as captain was the unexpected 1980 Grand Slam. He is currently a member of the International Rugby Board and Chairman of the Rugby Football Union, Bill Beaumont Textiles specialises in traditional and contemporary fabrics for use in window coverings and upholstery.

When Beaumont played rugby in the 1970s and 80s, it was an amateur sport so unlike the stars of today, he had to have a normal job. When he left school he joined the family textile business, which he eventually bought from the family in 1998, and played rugby locally for Fylde Rugby Club where he progressed to play for Lancashire, the Barbarians, England and the Lions. He is still involved with rugby and is currently Chairman of the Rugby Football Union and was awarded an OBE in 1982 and a CBE in 2008 for services to Rugby.

Bill is the great-great-grandson of Joseph Hargreaves, the business’ founder who set up a weaving shed in Chorley, Lancashire in 1888. Bill works alongside his wife Hilary, the business’ Design Director. Bill and Hilary work with their eldest son Daniel who is the Managing Director. 





                                                     

At the end of her visit we gifted HRH with one of our HW44 Ladies Thelma Hats, a classic and charming piece of headwear featuring a brown 100% cotton checked lining, brim band around the centre and a bow at the back. This hat is also available in honey and blackwatch tartan – both going really well with their W47 & W49 Katrina jacket counterparts.                                        


 A close up of the newspaper article


HW44

HW38 Honey and Blackwatch edition

After which we received a letter from the crown stating how enjoyable the experience was for The Princess and how she will wear our hat with great pride:




Since then Oxford Blue has been going from strength to strength, the visit from her majesty was indeed a testament to the quality of our garments - fit for a Princess. 



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