Our history

Artificial flower-making has been present in Hadleigh, Essex, for decades. After many years in the trade, the family firm of Strouds closed in the early 1960s, and their tools were sold to other manufacturers.

At this point our family acquired a small selection of these tools as well as two gas-heated presses and used them to make flowers and accessories as a hobby.

In the 1970s a contact at a local wedding dress manufacturer led us to make some sample accessories for the bridal department in Debenhams, and Millfields was born!

Using our small collection of tools and dyeing cottons in a range of popular bridesmaids' colours, we produced posies and headdresses that were something really novel. Before long, our accessories were being sold in Debenhams and D.H. Evans on Oxford Street as well as many independant stores throughout the UK.

In the 1990s we had the opportunity to acquire further tools, materials and machinery from Stoneleigh House Trading (formerly Burt Bros. of Bow) in London, which enabled us to vastly increase our range and capabilities to include making leaves and petals for theatre and advertising.

Around the same time there was a great increase in the availability of and interest in pure silks as well as a renewed popularity in ladies' hats, which led us to specialise in the flowers you can see on our web pages.