Black Scorpion breathes new life into Backhouse apparel

BLACK SCORPION has taken over production of Backhouse apparel and saved the jobs of its four employees.
The company, using the name Black Ridge Apparel, began a lease of the Backhouse label and company assets on April 1, after WG Backhouse Ltd and Boyle Manufacturing Ltd applied to go into liquidation in mid-March.
The assets and label continue to be owned by the Boyle Family Trust.
Owners Chris and Lee McIntyre said the decision to take over the Backhouse production was made virtually overnight, after they learned about the possibility just three days before the end of March.
"We thought that it's a good product and one we didn't want to disappear," Lee said.
The acquisition has thrown the couple on a steep learning curve, learning about clothing and fabrics, with Lee, who once had aspirations to be a policewoman, even taking on a business coach to help her through the sudden change.
"I'm developing a passion for it. Something I never thought I'd do is develop a passion for running a business. It's not a career I ever foresaw," she said.
The new business was compatible with their present manufacturing business and some of their Black Scorpion products would now be produced alongside the Backhouse label, famous for its outdoor gear.
The couple had almost doubled their staff by employing Backhouses's designer and three sewers, along with two casual employees and hoped to eventually pick up more.
"There's a lot of machinists out there at the moment& as we pick up we might pick up some of the Norsewear workers," Lee said.
While they had the right to produce everything under the Backhouse label, with any additions to the Backhouse range made within a strict style code and called Backhouse with Black Ridge,
In the last six weeks they have already designed and produced two new jackets for fishing and hunting and were working on a children's range.
Any new creations would be labelled Black Ridge.
"We don't want to reinvent [Backhouse] because it's such a well-known brand& [but] we can be a bit more experimental with Black Ridge," Chris said.
Designer Howard Hall said he recently returned to Backhouse, after working with Norsewear for two years until its closure and was glad to keep his job.
Prior to that he had worked with Backhouse before it closed, later reopening in 2006.
"It's a terrible industry, a fickle industry& competing with Japan and China is hard, but we can do it as long as we have that niche production," he said.
There would also be plenty of new challenges for staff of working with Black Scorpion products, he said.
"It's a big change for us, working with leather."