The leather man

摘要

Richard Hutchins, Managing Director of The Leather Repair Company, gives his view from the industry. I got into the leather business due to my love affair with classic cars. I first took a liking to leather at the young age of 14 across the pond in the USA. Whilst there, I visited the Bill Harrah automobile museum in Reno, was taken around the restoration workshops and shown the tricks of the trade. In my early career, I travelled around the world attending car auctions, buying and selling classic cars and importing them into the UK. My company has over 30 years' experience in the leather industry and offers full training and repair services: from a simple tear, scuff and scrape, to colour loss and major colour restoration of leather in modern and classic cars. Entrepreneurs have the ability to see business opportunities in rare and obscure situations where other individuals will walk away. The leather repair and restoration business is a billion pound industry. There are millions of vehicles around the world that need this service. What is so fantastic about this industry is it's not limited to just cars; if you think outside the box, you have clothing, furniture, shoes and handbags to just name a few areas where people can make money by starting a business for themselves. The leather industry is rapidly expanding: we now have three factory sites in the UK and are just opening up our first office in the USA.