Farming wellies - an expanding business for Cumbrian farmer

Kid's crying over frozen toes led to this Cumbrian Farmer diversifying into wellies.

Simon Wood set up The Warm Welly Company in 2007, has seen the business continue to grow and now celebrates their 18th birthday. The business has expanded over the years thanks to welly design improvements and new lines added to suit the growing market of families looking to make the most of the outdoors. This anniversary year sees further developments with updated adult wellies and new colours for kids.

Simon Wood diversified into designing and producing ‘Warm Wellies’ for kids, when his own four children were small. Like many farming families, the kids had to be outside in all weathers and would often cry over frozen toes. That’s when Simon spotted a gap in the market and became the first welly retailer in the UK to produce neoprene lined wellies exclusively for kids.

The Warm Welly Company’s range has developed since the early years to include wellies for all members of farming families – with a range of four adult welly styles that suit a wide range of needs.

Now known as The Warm Wellies Farmer, Simon said “We’ve lots of customers who are very active outdoors, be that on farms, riding horses, walking or working, and those with chunkier calves or wide feet wanted a wider fit welly. Similarly, older people with less flexibility in their joints wanted more room in the ankle – that’s why we created our Wide Wellies. We decided to include short wellies because we also had feedback that customers wanted an easy to slip on style that’s great for gardening or just nipping outside and are great for the older generation.”

During the last year Simon and the small family team have been refining the adult wellies to make them more durable for life on farms and in fields. He explained “We know how tough farming wellies have to be and felt we could improve what we had.”

“Technical discussions with our developers meant we have been able to increase the resilience against muck and chemicals that face farmers every day - especially on dairy farms. We’ve also improved the outer soles to make them more durable and the insoles have been upgraded for even more comfort – we are in wellies all day, so they have to be right. Once we felt we got the formula right, we tested them on the farm for months until we were satisfied they would do the job intended.”

In addition to improving their adult welly range, Simon added new colours to the kids’ range, so they are now available in red and yellow as well as their traditional green or purple. “We launched new colours, but the overwhelming favourite is still the green wellies. Kids on farms love looking like little farmers and those who attend forest schools particularly love green too. Of course, toddlers and infants like bright colours, so these are doing extremely well – and are attracting a new audience to the company. “We have been selling more wellies right across our range, but it seems an increasing number of parents are more prepared to invest in their children’s feet with good quality, comfortable wellies that have the added benefit of a neoprene lining.

“It’s very positive news for our business as there’s long term growth potential in this market - children’s feet can keep growing until they’re teenagers, which means customer loyalty is valued highly. We know our wellies last because we hear from customers who are buying bigger sizes, who tell us they are still working well as hand-me-downs, that’s perfect recycling.

“Warm Welly customers can be found right across the UK, and whilst the bulk of customers still live and work on farms, warm wellies are attracting families keen on outdoor adventures and they aren’t afraid of getting muddy. Like us, they appreciate the value of keeping kid’s feet warm and they know the outdoors can be fun all year round if you wear the right gear.”

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