1866
William Green begins making shoes in the loft above the Corn Merchants in Rushden, Northamptonshire. At this time shoemaking was done by hand in the houses of outworkers and William would hand out the work by visiting them individually on a daily basis.
1874
As his business grew, he needed to increase production, and machinery had just been introduced so he moved into his first "factory" at Green Yard. This was one of the first factories in the world to use the Goodyear Welted method of shoemaking.
1895
The business had grown enough to require bigger premises and their success was such that they could afford to build a state of the art new factory at the corner of Queen Street and Cromwell Road. This is the factory that they left in 2013 to move to the current factory.
1901
William Green died and the left the business to his son, CAK Green.
1913
The business decided to move with the times by developing a "modern brand name" something that was just becoming fashionable. They took William Green and Sons and shortened it to GRENSON, which became one of the first trade names ever to be registered in the UK.
1914 – 18
Grenson serves its country by producing thousands of boots and shoes for the soldiers of The Great War.
1939 – 45
Once again the company is called into action and makes many shoes and boots for the soldiers, not only of British forces but of the Allied Forces too. Among many styles it develops is a flying boot with a leg that zips off to make running easier in case of being shot down in enemy territory. At this point the factory employs nearly 500 people making shoes.
1950
Heyden Green, the last member of the Green family to be involved with the business, visits America and sees the majority of men wearing soft, comfortable moccasins. He visits India where the best hand-stitching skills are found and begins to make a collection that gives the company a new lease of life during the post war depression.
1960 – 2005
Grenson creates many innovative products such as exotic skin shoes in the 60’s and 70’s, but eventually begins to decline due to the growing number of imports from the far east.
2008
The first ever Grenson shop is opened in Liverpool Street in London.
2010
Tim Little buys out the owners and opens a second store, in Hanbury Street, East London, and an e-commerce website.
2011
Stores such as Harrods, Selfridges and Liberty agree to stock Grenson, kickstarting an expansion into the highest quality wholesale distribution in the world.
For the first time in 30 years, the Grenson Women's collection is launched.
2012
An apprenticeship scheme is started to bring new blood into the factory.
2013
The factory moves for the first time since William Green moved into Queen Street in 1895. The new factory is modern, warm, clean and efficient, signalling its future as a modern business.
The Grenson:LAB programme is started where customers can customise their own shoes. It begins with a launch at Liberty in London.
2014
Two new stores are opened in Soho and Bloomsbury and the iconic "Triple Welt" is launched.
2015
The first ever overseas shop is secured in New York, with a launch date of January 2016.
2016
The Grenson 150th anniversary was marked by a series of events and an "Archive Collection" of shoes that are painstakingly reproduced from the originals. They cover many decades of Grenson shoemaking.
2017
Grenson opens its 6th store on London's Jermyn Street.
2018
Grenson launches new accessories, including its first signature fragrance called Grenson 66, a watch collection and dog accessories handmade in the Grenson factory.
2019
Grenson introduced The London Collection and continued projects with Craig Green and Henry Holland.
2020
Grenson introduced The Vegan Collection.
2021
Grenson supplied shoes for Simon Stallard’s The Hidden Hut while cooking for the G7 Summit.
Grenson Launch the Rubberised collection.
2022
2023
Grenson introduced the Waterproof Collection.