Celebrating National Manufacturing Day: Over a Century of Making at Hillbrush

This National Manufacturing Day, we’re celebrating our proud manufacturing heritage and more than a century of producing brushes here in Britain.

From brushes made entirely by hand in a small shed to sophisticated, computer-controlled machinery capable of producing dozens of different products, manufacturing at Hillbrush has changed enormously over the years.

Few people have witnessed that transformation as closely as our Chairman, Philip Coward, who has been part of Hillbrush for 52 years.

For National Manufacturing Day, we sat down with Philip to look back at where Hillbrush began, how manufacturing has evolved and why continuing to manufacture in Mere, Wiltshire, remains so important to us.

From a small shed to British manufacturing

The Hillbrush story began more than a century ago with Philip’s grandfather and great-uncle.

Following the First World War, Philip’s grandfather spent time working for Shell Oil in Paris. When that role came to an end, he returned home and, together with his brother, faced the question of what to do next.

The suggestion from their father was wonderfully straightforward:

“Why don’t you make brushes? Everybody always wants a brush.”

And so Hillbrush began.

The first brushes were made in a small shed at the bottom of Castle Hill in Mere - the origin of the Hillbrush name.

Manufacturing looked very different then. There were no automated production lines or computer-controlled machines. Everything was made by hand, with the tufts of the brushes held in place using hot pitch.

Selling them was equally hands-on. Philip recalls how his great-uncle would take bundles of brushes on the back of his motorcycle and travel around selling them.

It is a world away from the Hillbrush factory of today, but that spirit of making a quality product has remained.

52 years of change

When Philip joined the company 52 years ago, manufacturing had already become increasingly mechanised, but the technology was still very different from what we use today.

Machines were operated using large metal cams, rather than computers, and Hillbrush needed considerably more individual machines because each was dedicated to producing a smaller range of brushes.

Today, computer-controlled machinery has transformed what is possible.

“The machines are much more sophisticated and much quicker, but having computer controls now means that the machines are much more versatile.”

One machine can now manufacture as many as 50 different types of brush, while other specialist machines have been built specifically for particular products.

Yet for all that technological progress, there is also remarkable continuity.

Four brushes Hillbrush manufactures today date back to not long after the company first started. The processes may have evolved beyond recognition, but some of the products have stood the test of time.

Manufacturing that continues to evolve

The materials we use have changed too.

When Philip first joined Hillbrush, most brushes had wooden backs and natural fillings. Natural fibres remain an important part of our manufacturing today, but the range has expanded considerably.

We now manufacture plastic brushes for industries including food production, agriculture and other industrial applications - markets that simply weren't part of Hillbrush's business in the early days.

Sustainability is also increasingly influencing the materials and processes we use. As Philip explains, many of the synthetic monofilaments used in our brushes are now produced from recycled bottles.

“We try to be as green as possible in what we do, with everything we do within the company.”

It is another example of British manufacturing adapting: combining generations of knowledge with new materials, technologies and expectations.

Why manufacturing in Mere matters

Perhaps the most important part of Philip's story is not how much manufacturing has changed, but why Hillbrush has continued to manufacture here.

At a time when a great deal of production has moved overseas, maintaining manufacturing in the UK requires continual investment.

For Hillbrush, that has meant investing in increasingly sophisticated machinery capable of producing brushes efficiently and at high speed.

Philip explains:

“We’re extremely proud that we still manufacture brushes here in Mere, in Wiltshire, in the UK.”

That investment allows Hillbrush to remain a manufacturer rather than simply sourcing finished products from elsewhere. It also gives us control over the quality of what we make.

“I hope that in many years to come we’re still manufacturing here in Mere, because it’s very important to us to be able to keep control over the quality of what we do - and to still be a manufacturer.”

Celebrating the people and progress behind manufacturing

National Manufacturing Day is an opportunity to show what modern manufacturing really looks like.

At Hillbrush, ours is a story that stretches from brushes handmade in a shed to modern, high-speed manufacturing – but it is also a story that is still being written.

Technology has changed. Materials have changed. Markets have changed. But the fundamental principle behind Hillbrush remains remarkably similar to the one that started the business generations ago: we manufacture brushes in the UK.

And more than a century later, we're proud to still be making them here in Mere, Wiltshire.

Happy National Manufacturing Day from everyone at Hillbrush.