Big step forward for Herefordshire shoemaker thanks to grant

A specialist shoemaker from Herefordshire is planning to take on new staff after a grant from Herefordshire Growth Hub helped boost production.

Gaucho Ninja Leather is a craft maker of specialist barefoot shoes, using traditional principles and techniques to create footwear that it says can improve posture, alleviate foot and lower limb problems helping “ground” the wearer to their environment.

The company is the brainchild of Spanish exile Lisandro Serra Delmar, who used his family tradition in leatherwork combined with his knowledge of martial arts to begin making traditional Japanese tabi boots for friends.

A Rural Enterprise Grant of £5,087 allowed Lisandro and his fellow director, wife Harriet Duke, to create a new mezzanine floor at their factory to improve storage and stock handling.

There are now plans to take on a new part-time sales and marketing staff member, to help push more sales and find new distributors and retail outlets. The company already employs a commercial director and a craft shoemaker who helps Lisandro to make the shoes.

Lisandro said: “We were at a stage where we needed to make the business more sustainable, and to make things more affordable for customers.

“We had opened the business to an investor, which allowed us to source some artisan factories in Spain. But to do this we needed to build a mezzanine at our site here, to allow us to store the extra stock.”

Installing the mezzanine also allowed for the installation of a wood burner, which helps keep the stock dry.

Lisandro added: “The extra capacity from the mezzanine allowed us to expand, big time, and it allowed us to process sales more efficiently.

“The wood burner now keeps us warm and keeps the products dry and free of mould. We couldn’t have done this without the help from the growth hub at that point in time.”

The company began in Spain and moved with Lisandro to Herefordshire when he relocated to join Harriet in 2019, and now hand makes a range of barefoot shoes and boots.

Lisandro said: “Ten years ago I opened an online shop on Etsy, selling these leather tabi, then people started asking “can you make a tall boot, can you make a rubber sole?” and so on.

“I then discovered that these shoes already had a name, barefoot shoes. They are not only healthy in terms of posture and in the treatment and prevention of many issues with feet like plantar fasciitis but they also help connecting with the ground and having an awareness of your senses.

“I am passionate about tradition and how things were done in the past. The shoes last a long time, and I like the idea that you buy a pair of shoes once and if you look after them, you can repair them, resole them and start to create a story that grows with your footwear.”

The company is now working with the Herefordshire Growth Hub to apply for further funding, which would go towards specialist equipment to expand the customisation side of the business. Lisandro is also keen to take advantage of the networking opportunities offered by the growth hub as the business continues to grow and develop.