James Ince Umbrellas 1805

For 220 years the Ince family have been crafting umbrellas for the home and overseas markets; making us the oldest umbrella maker and manufacturer in the UK. The company is still based a stone’s throw away from our first beginnings in Spitalfields, just around the corner from Liverpool Street Station, London. And the Square Mile is still one of our biggest markets where we supply many professional firms and businesses. Richard Ince is the 6th generation Ince managing director of this old East End family business. He prides himself in having worked in the business since a teenager, learning his craft from the skilled artians around him; ensuring these same traditional skills are handed down through the generations and are still being used today to make quality hand crafted James Ince umbrellas.

We believe in investing in our workforce and retaining valuable skills which is why we are a Living Wage employer. We promote good labour practices and encourage a safe, happy and productive workforce. And we offer flexible working to enable our staff to have a good work life balance.

We are an ethical company and pride ourselves in promoting a sustainable supply chain. We work hard to source our materials from as close to home as possible from traceable, sustainable sources. We are members of Sedex , the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange. We actively support local interests and charities including Providence Row, who help people get off the streets in the area; Five Talents who provide micro finance for startups and small businesses in developing countries; and Water Aid.

We are planning to move into larger and greener premises. This will help support our growth and reduce our carbon footprint. We are developing our sustainable framework so we have acheivable goals in making our business kinder to the planet. And top of our list is working with a business parter to develop a recyclable polyester fabric made in Europe from plastic sea waste and rcycled bottles.