Brasher Footwear. The end, or new beginning?

 Brasher has long been known as a premium British outdoor footwear manufacturer using top quality materials like Pittards leather. Founded by Olympic gold medallist Chris Brasher in 1978, Brasher has become a firm favourite of hill walkers and hikers here in the UK. So its sad news indeed that the Brasher name, as of Spring 2015, will be no more - but its not all bad.

Berghaus, with whom Brasher is being merged, is also a well respected British company that also has a innovative and respected history in outdoor and mountain wear. Their walking footwear has many fans, especially their synthetic walking footwear such as the Explorer boot that is popular among Duke of Edinburgh and Ten Tors participants. So one can hope, that with Brasher's superior mastery over leather and anti clogging soles, combined with Berghaus' success with synthetic materials that this merger will produce some fantastic footwear in the near future. Firm Brasher favourites like the Fellmaster, Hillmaster, Hillwalker and Supalite will continue to exist with Berghaus branding and some minor improvements such as Vibram soles. The new Berghaus equivalent Brasher models will still be made using the same, permanently waterproofed, Pittards leather and still feature a Brasher engineering label.

In truth, the two companies have both been owned by the Pentland Group since 1993. So this amalgamation should not be huge surprise to those in the industry. It could also be deemed good fortune for both companies too, ensuring their continuation in one form or an other in an extremely competitive global market. Their promotional line for the merger 'Two great British Brands Merging' is hopefully indicative of a British super brand coming in to existence and long may they last.