James Grove and Sons Ltd.

The Company, James Grove, as it was then known, was founded in 1857, by James Grove and his wife Ann Elizabeth.

James had already been working in the button industry, as he was a qualified die-sinker he decided to set up on his own. At that time buttons were made from Horn and Hoof only, many of them compression moulded, with the crests on, either fancy, or with military insignia. Some of the earliest history in the company archives points to sales that were made to both sides of the American Civil War. It would appear that both the Confederate and Unionist sides chose to have their buttons from James Grove

In the early 1900`s, James Grove travelled across Europe selling Horn Buttons from his hotel room. Customers would have to come and see him there!

On 11th January 1917, the Company was incorporated as a Private Company limited by shares.

At that time buttons were made and polished by hand. The company employed about 600 men and women. Today, we employ around 40 people using sophisticated machinery and polishing techniques which are a far cry from the early 1900`s.

Over the years, compression moulding of Horn and Hoof became too labour intensive and, therefore, too expensive, so these buttons were then made from synthetic material on injection moulded machines. The turning of Horn buttons on lathes, however, continued.

One of our traditional trades was uniform buttons, supplying the Ministry of Defence, British Railways, the G.P.O (Post Office), and many Sailing Clubs etc. Alas, the days of the traditional uniform are gone, so this is a much smaller part of our production.

Still specialising in real horn buttons, modern machinery allows personalised laser engraving on many types of button materials, compared to the original hand stamping on horn and etching on metal buttons.

In the 1950`s the company started making synthetic buttons from a material called casein, which is made from a milk derivative, this material is now quite rare. The curing of the raw material takes several weeks. This means making buttons from this material is a very lengthy process. The finish however is very smooth and shiny making it extremely desirable, especially for the "couture" fashion industry

Today, the company, which is still owned by the Grove Family, is the only manufacturer of Real Horn buttons in the UK and has expanded the range of products offered to include Polyester, Metal, Leather, Nylon and Shell. A specialty is still the provision of buttons made from various materials displaying individual logos of internationally renowned companies and corporations.

James Grove and Sons Limited is proud of its heritage and the fact that, in it's field, is the largest manufacturer of buttons in the United Kingdom, and one of the largest manufactures of Real Horn buttons in the world

Work has continued over the years to improve our facilities and in 2006 we moved into a brand new purpose built manufacturing unit at Halesowen in the United Kingdom, allowing us to expand our in-house facilities.

This has enabled us to maintain our position as leaders in manufacturing quality and service that has been built up over the years and which our customers have come to expect.

Over the past years, we have been expanding our customer base and now export to most countries around the globe. James Grove and Sons Ltd are pleased to continue in the tradition of our founders James and Ann Grove and remain extremely competitive within the world market place keeping loyal to our original concept of quality and reliability.

Please contact us with your specific requirements and we will arrange for a sample to be sent to you so that you can see for yourself the quality of our Buttons.

James Grove and Sons