No 424 - Tread Lite Gear

Tread Lite Gear is a UK cottage manufacturing brand name which most people who are interested in the lightweight outdoor scene, may have increasingly become aware of in recent years. The man behind the idea, the business and more importantly, the sewing machine is Paul Stokes. In the podcast you’ll hear how he took the brave step to teach himself the dark skills of the sewing machine and step away from his white collar career as a surveyor to design, create and sew lots of very cool items, using very cool fabrics for very cool people in the outdoors world. This interview will take you through his journey and what it takes to become one of the very few cottage manufacturers in the UK, who like any small business has to struggle against the tides of exchange rates, flaky suppliers, import duties and all the administration activities which actually keep any entrepreneur away from doing their chosen work in the first place.