Though most people have never heard of Yorkshire-based outdoor clothing brand Buffalo, the company has developed a cult following amongst outdoor enthusiasts.
Buffalo’s jackets have been worn in some of the world’s most inhospitable climates. First hand accounts sent to the company from fans describe trips around glaciers in Kyrgyzstan, cycle tours in Mongolia, and expeditions to the South Pole. Its jackets have also been provided to the police and armed forces.
Founded in 1979 by outdoorsman Hamish Hamilton, Buffalo prides itself on quality. With each of its jackets made in Sheffield by a small team, the firm embodies the longstanding tradition of Yorkshire craftsmanship.
It was the company’s focus on quality that also inspired its new owners – adventurer and TV presenter Ben Fogle and his business partner James Sleater – to buy the company earlier this year.
00:00My name is Ben Fogel. I am an adventurer, a TV presenter, a writer, and now a business owner here in Sheffield.
00:08So I bought a heritage business called Buffalo Systems a couple of weeks ago.
00:15So this is a whole new adventure. So this is my new mountain environment.
00:20I think people are used to seeing me on oceans, in wild places, in the Yorkshire Dales.
00:25But my latest adventure is this little factory here in the heart of Sheffield and it's great fun.
00:33I'm really enjoying kind of meeting everyone and we have huge ambitions to try and tell everyone about the amazing history of this little niche brand.
00:46Obviously, I wear a lot of outdoor wear over the years.
00:49I've spent 25 years working in the great outdoors and my uniform are jackets.
00:56So I have a few too many jackets, too many to actually admit to you now in case my wife watches this.
01:01But my favourite jacket has always been the Buffalo.
01:05So the Buffalo, the mountain shirt, which is a sort of pull-on smock.
01:08I first saw one of my teachers, Mr. Moore, sadly now passed away.
01:13He wore one when I was about 11 years old.
01:15And I remember thinking, that is an amazing jacket.
01:19And then I kept seeing them.
01:20They were very popular with the military.
01:22I kept seeing people wear them.
01:25And from the age of about 18, I have literally lived in a Buffalo smock.
01:32So a couple of years ago, I started thinking that I wanted to spend more time in this country, less time overseas.
01:38And it struck me that this might be an amazing little gem to just start storytelling.
01:48Because that's kind of what I do.
01:49I like to storytell.
01:50The brand itself was invented in the late 70s by the late Hamish Hamilton.
01:56And he invented not only the fabric called Pertex, a predecessor to Gore-Tex and a far superior product, if you ask me.
02:03He invented the Buffalo, and it was based on the Inuit use of clothing, where they would wear the fur on the inside.
02:11The fur, in this case, is not real fur.
02:13It's a pile liner.
02:15But the idea was that it wicks all the moisture from your skin.
02:19And it has become a much beloved outdoor brand for search and rescue teams, for the military, for the police, for Everest climbers.
02:29And for me, for yours truly.
02:32So I'm really excited to work with a brand that I really believe in.
02:36I think I know it.
02:37I understand the DNA.
02:39And we're here in Sheffield, city of manufacturing, right in the heart of some of the most beautiful landscapes here in South Yorkshire.
02:47And I just really want to help put Sheffield back on the map.
02:51Not that it needs my help, but I think it has so much to celebrate.
02:55And I'm hoping that maybe a little bit of the extra reach that I might be able to give it from the job that I have, I'll be able to just really show off what South Yorkshire, and in this case, in particular, Sheffield, has to offer.
03:12I hate that term businessman.
03:14I'm economically dyslexic.
03:18I'm terrible with figures.
03:21I don't like talking about money or finances.
03:25I failed my economics, but I have a brilliant business partner in James who luckily knows all about that.
03:31So I'm here to kind of storytell and to spend time with all the staff.
03:36I'm going to learn how to make a jacket from scratch.
03:39And I really want to be very hands-on.
03:41That, for me, is the most important thing.
03:43It's been very much run as a family business for the last 30 years, really, everyone.
03:48You know, it really is a very happy place.
03:50And I hope that we're going to be able to continue that.
03:53Reaching out to the wider Sheffield community, if anyone's reading this and wants to help or has ideas that, you know, we might be able to get stuck in with, then we really want to kind of bring the community together.
