The Ettinger leather factory, located near Birmingham, remains one of the few remaining leather goods manufacturers in the West Midlands. According to long-time employee Gary Billingham, the production process for a single wallet involves 28 distinct pieces, which are cut using a hydraulic press before being thinned, glued, and stitched by hand.

Billingham, who has worked at the facility since the 1980s, notes a significant decline in the local industry, recalling a time when the Yellow Pages listed three full pages of leather factories in the area. The firm’s current operational philosophy prioritizes manual attention to detail over the introduction of robotics. By focusing on traditional hand-crafting methods, the company aims to maintain a level of quality that they suggest cannot be replicated by automated machinery. The report highlights the contrast between the historical prevalence of leather manufacturing in the region and the current scarcity of such firms, positioning Ettinger as a survivor of a shrinking industrial landscape.