Tread a thoroughly British line with these New Balance Made in UK trainers

A village industry with a global reach: the New Balance factory in the Cumbrian town of Flimby (population 1,707) in north-west England is an outlier in the vast, multi-billion-dollar sneaker industry. Here, premium sneakers with a technical aesthetic and contemporary design are manufactured at scale using time-honoured techniques and a meticulous approach to craftsmanship.

First launched in 1982, New Balance’s Made in UK label is rooted in local culture and brand heritage. ‘New Balance is one of the few major sportswear brands that still manufactures in the UK. This sets us apart,’ says Sam Pearce, senior creative design manager of Made in UK. ‘There is this blend of craftsmanship and pride; the stitch lines are perfect, but they carry the human touch of the people who put them there.’

The difference is evident in both scale and intent. ‘At Flimby, we’re not turning out tens of thousands of pairs a day; we’re making just a few hundred, and every shoe is touched by many skilled hands,’ explains Pearce. ‘That means we can work with the most premium materials, which need careful handling, and we can make small design tweaks without the machinery of mass production slowing us down.’

Producing shoes in smaller batches, means the Made in UK team can, in Pearce’s sneakerhead words, ‘obsess’ over the details – ‘the grain of the leather, the stitch lengths, even how the shoe feels in the hand before you lace it up. It’s not about chasing volume for us; it’s about crafting something that will last, both physically and in the way the product makes you feel when you wear it.’

There’s also a cultural difference. ‘Our team know the heritage of New Balance inside out. They’re not just making a shoe; they’re carrying forward a legacy, and that changes the energy that goes into each pair.’ And the approach to design is similarly singular, confident and community-focused. ‘We don’t need to take our design cues from other brands and trends. We can lean in and push forward with something that we believe in.’

New for 2025 is the ‘Allerdale’ sneaker, ‘born directly from the landscape around us, [and] taking its name from the historical area of Cumbria where the factory is based’, says Pearce. ‘There has been a clear shift towards more formal footwear trends and this model brings that together with the brand’s walking heritage in an authentic way. The brown leather of the launch colourway was inspired by those earthy tones you see walking through the Lake District in winter – the bridle paths, the old stone walls, that sort of muted richness. Even the tongue label points to a real spot in the Lake District you can actually go and stand in; it’s our way of embedding that sense of place into the shoe.’

New too is a collection of Made in UK ‘991v2’ sneakers, whose colourways are ‘inspired by the feeling of a summer stroll through a vineyard – soft pinks, lush greens and burgundy reflect the tones of ripening fruit, sunlit leaves, and the surrounding northern landscape.’

New Balance is also looking to a future of cutting-edge materials supplied by local regenerative farming processes, with mycelium- and mushroom-based innovations under consideration to replace petroleum-based foams and fabrics. But in the fast lane of the sneaker industry, is it possible to be forward-facing and yet still stay true to the slow essence of craft and locally made product? ‘I think it’s not only possible, it’s necessary. The trick is knowing which technologies to embrace and which to leave alone in order to retain the unique skillsets we have developed over the last 40 years. For us, digital prototyping helps speed up the development phase and allows us to make more informed design decisions without wasting materials. But when it comes to the making – hand cutting, stitching, lasting – then that’s non-negotiable.

‘The future’s exciting, but it’s most powerful when it enhances, not replaces, the human touch.’ Pearce adds. ‘Craft isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about using the right methods – whether traditional or modern – to make the best possible product.’

How New Balance found the perfect equilibrium: a history

Founded by Irish immigrant William J Riley in Boston, Massachusetts, back in 1906, the New Balance Arch Support Company originally specialised in orthotic footwear, with a three-point orthopedic insole inspired by the effortless stability of hens in the founder’s back yard. The company’s big break in sport didn’t come until 1960, when the newly branded New Balance Athletic Shoe Company released its ‘Trackster’ model – the first running shoe available in varying widths. In 1972 the company had just six full-time workers, making 20-30 pairs of shoes a day. This all changed in 1976 with the now iconic ‘320’ shoe, complete with new ‘N’ logo. Unveiled during a peak year for the running trend that got an estimated 25 million Americans jogging, the New Balance ‘320’ became a bestseller. Fifty years later, it is still central to the brand’s offering.

New Balance opened its first UK factory in Workington, Cumbria, in 1982, before moving to the neighbouring town of Flimby in 1991. Samuel Pearce, now senior creative design manager, joined New Balance UK 14 years ago and recalls a company really finding its confidence and identity. ‘The “997”, with its jacked-up heel and crisp midsole was designed by Steven Smith in 1990 and remains the apex of the brand’s 99x series,’ says Pearce. ‘That’s also around the time when New Balance decided to concentrate on being an independent brand, to focus on the best product possible and not worry too much about endorsement deals with sporting superstars.’

To celebrate more than 40 years of shoemaking in the UK, Pearce brought back the ‘730’ sneaker – and it looks as good as new. ‘In Flimby we pride ourselves on remaking shoes as close to the originals as possible, really digging into the details to make sure the new versions stay true to the brand,’ he says. ‘The sneaker industry has changed a lot over the years. In the 1980s, for example, it was very much [about] performance-led design. Now, sneakers have been adopted for lifestyle purposes, so it’s about merging those two worlds. New Balance is known for quality, fit and comfort – Made in UK has its own USP, with locally sourced materials from Europe. But it is also including the little nuances and design details, that perhaps only hardcore sneaker heads might notice, that we really like to achieve.’

newbalance.co.uk/made-in-the-uk/