November 27, 2024
The Florence Roby Story
In 1968, a tailoress from St. Helens founded a bespoke uniform manufacturing brand –her name was Florence Roby. Three generations later, her children and grandchildren continue to run the business, which has become one of the UK’s leading uniform suppliers.
Florence started the business from her dining room table, where she cut gowns and smocks before having them sewn up by a team of outworkers in St. Helens. Following in Florence’s footsteps, her son Steven – now managing director – learned to cut on the same dining room table after school. In 1976, Florence opened a small factory warehouse, employing four people. By 1980, the company employed 10 people. Florence’s tailoring skills saw her branch out into ecclesiastical wear, culminating in her fashioning chasubles and stoles for the Pope’s visit to Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral in 1982.
At the same time, Steven began working for the family business heading up sales. During this period, he acquired the Clarins UK contract for bespoke uniforms – a partnership with Florence Roby that is still flourishing more than 35 years later. During the 1990s, the emerging beauty sector presented a new market opportunity for Florence Roby.
“At the time, beauty uniforms were dull and functional,” says Steven. “Beauticians were in need of a clinical, professional look that was also fashionable. We were the first UK based uniform supplier to pioneer a range of stylish uniforms for the beauty market, as a mail-order business.”
This success led to investment into new plant and machinery, as well as the establishment of a training school for sewing.
“Unlike most sewing facilities at the time, we personally trained our students to manufacture the entire garment, rather than tailoring part of a garment on a production line” says Steven. “One of our greatest strengths is that we still use this sewing method today.”
Florence Roby has since developed uniform offerings for spas and hotels, providing a comprehensive uniform service for all roles within the wellness and hospitality sectors, to customers including Champneys, Centre Parcs, Viking Cruises, Dermalogica, Grantley Hall and Hilton Hotels. Florence’s grandsons Ben and Jack joined the business in 2009 and 2024 respectively continuing the family-run nature of Florence Roby.
“Being family run is one of our greatest strengths,” says Steven. “Today we employ three generations of the Roby family in our workforce. For five decades, we have maintained my mother’s core ethos of design innovation and high-quality products, made using UK fabrics manufactured in Nottingham. A lot has changed in our 50-year history, but this underlying ethos still guides us in every design we develop and every stitch we sew.”