Where do we start by explaining who’s behind the face of Hollands? Let’s rewind to where it all began in the wonderful village of Disley
Now home to 4600 residents, it’s where Malcolm Holland, a fourth-generation farmer, decided that selling Hay at Chelford Agricultural Centre wasn’t quite enough. It wasn’t long until he realised that selling a few pairs of wellingtons might be the answer he was looking for.
Now fast forward a few months and a bulk order of ladies skirts rather than Army “Shirts”, and we have a potential business. With what was once a passing thought now was turning into something that Malcolm thought could work, his son Mark decided to join the venture.
It was hard work and long hours, but the word began to spread on the local Markets of the Hollands Family. All was well until the first foot and mouth outbreak hit. The markets were closed, the stalls packed up and any chance of selling even a bale of straw or hay was gone.
However, Hollands was not prepared to see their hard work go to ruins and so Hollandscountryclothing.co.uk was born.
We managed to recruit Matthew, Marks Nephew, in 2014 to join the business and bring a fresh new lease of life to keep up with an industry that was rapidly growing. The days of packing up practically the entire farm, bar the hens, in time for the 6 am markets, were gone. The Hollands family decided to grow the business from the comfort of their own home; Disley Hall Farm.
Living at the Farm was Malcolm’s other grandchildren, Sarah and Robert, who also decided it was time to become a part of Hollands Country Clothing. Now things weren’t always plain sailing, as you can imagine working with family can be testing but all three grandchildren worked hard. From 15 hour shift in a baltic warehouse (The Haybarn), to packing and picking every individual order, they were faced with challenges every day which they managed to overcome with the help of Granny Mave’s biscuits!
Now with each year that passes, the business goes from strength to strength, overcoming challenges along the way. Though we no longer work alongside the cows at Disley farm we remain a family-run business and intend to remain so. We have encouraged local Disley workers to join us at our new unit in Manchester and hope to always keep our original family values.
How do we do that? We like to think we do it by keeping things simple, with a straightforward, not too fancy website, selling high quality and practical clothing. Now we’re delighted to be a part of The Country Girls UK trade membership. Country sports is something we feel strongly about supporting and once we began speaking with Tania we knew we had to be a part of such an inspiring community.
We want to encourage ladies to get into country sports so why not do it in style? With that in mind we want all members to enjoy 15% off the website. We can’t wait to watch The Country Girls UK grow and to continue to accomplish great things!