Brasher Hangs Up His Boots

Chris Brasher has announced his retirement from the board of The Brasher Boot Company at the age of 73, at the same time he will be selling his 25 per-cent share of the company to Pentland.

Brasher, an Olympic gold medallist in 1956, conceived the first Brasher boot back in 1978 and put it on the market in 1983. It's hard to conceive of now when the whole outdoors industry is moving towards lighter kit, what a radical step it was at the time.

Walking boots were still heavy and inflexible and tended to break in your feet rather than the other way round. Brasher shattered that mould with a lightweight leather boot modelled on a running shoe that was considerably more comfortable and the company has been at the forefront of lightweight boots - particularly for low level use - ever since.

'Naturally I am sad to be parting company with a marvellous bunch of employees, some of whom have been with the business for over a decade, but time is the most precious commodity in the world and I would now like to devote more of my time to exploring wild places that I have never been to before.' Commented Brasher.

We say good luck to Chris, with the rest of his interests including the London Marathon, which he founded 21 years ago.

We'll be filling you in with the latest Brasher developments hot from the Harrogate trade show in the next couple of days.