In an attempt to impose some regularity to their income, five men living in the village of Wollaston banded together to form a co-operative (a company owned and run by the people working in it) called the Northamptonshire Productive Society (NPS). Known locally as ‘the Duffers’ their premises was a dove house in Thrift Street.

Luck was with them from the outset as they managed to secure a year long production order from the Government for army boots.

As industrialisation spread in England during the late nineteenth century, demand in England and abroad for high-quality boots steadily increased. As a result, NPS (Solovair) enjoyed rapid growth and by the turn of the century had grown to 80 employees. Consequently, NPS moved to a larger purpose-built factory on South Street in 1899, which although extended in 1907 and again in 1951, They occupy to this day.

By combining over 130 years of traditional craftsmanship and tooling with the latest technology and materials, NPS continue to produce the finest quality footwear. To maintain this undisputed quality, their products will always be handmade from start (‘clicking’) to ‘finishing’ in the UK!