About Us
Aykroyd and Sons are proud and delighted to be at the forefront of Character Licensing. Over many years since the initial concept of garment printing we have developed and strengthened significant partnerships with a considerable portfolio of world famous International Licensing organisations and brands. Traditionally these license partnerships have enabled us to design and manufacture a substantial and innovative range of garments for children of all ages in both nightwear and swimwear. The company has now developed these licenses to include an extensive range of Mens and Ladies nightwear and to this end we have an active partnership with Millarose Design house who specialise in Adult nightwear design.
​
Aykroyd and Sons are extremely proud to be a family run business. First established in 1918 by John Henry Aykroyd in Manchester the company manufactured garments of all types until the 1950’s when they began to specialise in nightwear. In the early 1980’s we introduced our own In House Design Department and this development immediately made a significant impact on our transition into Licensed Character Clothing.
The Company then focused on children’s nightwear manufacture and continued to run its centralised UK manufacturing factory in Bala North Wales until 2007. General market conditions then forced us to concentrate sourcing on overseas production and a versatile world wide sourcing structure has been built since that time. At the helm of the Company since the early 70’s are twins David and Nigel Aykroyd and over the last 5 years their children have all joined the business. Ffion, Stacy, Donna and Sion are all working full time in the Company and will hopefully provide a 6th generation of Aykroyds to carry on the business.
​
​
Mission Statement: To supply quality products in both design and manufacture using innovative and advanced technology. To react quickly and effectively to our customers’ needs. Enabling optimum sales from minimum stock levels at value for money prices.
Altrincham
Character Building houses all our head office operations including sales, licensing, importation and technical administrations, as well as a talented design team.
Our Design, Print, Imports and Technical departments work closely with our customers producing one-off designs to their exact needs using the most up to date and available computer programs.
Bala
Our Berwyn Factory situated in the heart of North Wales has been transformed from its original Manufacturing facility to an efficient, low cost, centralised Warehousing and Distribution Unit. It has over 75,000 sq feet of warehousing space housing an automated hanging garment rail system and a 5 pallet high racking storage facility, handling up to 8 million garments per annum. The Company has a fleet of vehicles to deliver goods nationwide to our Customers including three 40 foot articulated trailers. Our UK Manufacturing closed on this site in May 2007 after nearly 50 years of production in Bala. The Unit also houses a Sample machining and garment printing section using Digital Ink Jet machines, Sublimation printing and Heat Transfer application processes. We also house a QC department which carries out AQL checks and a Reprocessing section enabling us to respond to our customers needs at very short notice.
Leek
Formally known as Millarose ltd, this Design house is now part of the Aykroyds Family. They specialise in Adult nightwear.
Shanghai
Our Shanghai office was set up and is run by husband and wife team Ffion and Matthew Aykroyd-Davies who relocated to China in 2009. Our office covers merchandising, technical, quality control and packaging. Working on the same time zone and close to source allows improved communication with factories and suppliers and significantly cuts response times.
Over the last 100 years, with our expertise on garments, we have forged strong partnerships with a considerable portfolio of world famous licencors and licensing organisations.
These partnerships have enabled us to design and manufacture award winning ranges of character nightwear and swimwear, for children, women and men.
Our Story
1918
Aykroyd and Sons was first established in 1918 by John Henry Aykroyd in Manchester, where we are still located to this day.
1950
We manufactured garments of all types until the 1950's, when we first began to specialise in nightwear.
1980
In the early 1980's we introduced our own in-house design department and transitioned into licensed character clothing.
2007
We continued to run our centralised, UK manufacturing plant in Bala, North Wales, until 2007. At this point in time, we placed production at our overseas sites and a worldwide structure has been in operation for the last 10 years. We still use our old premise in Bala as a design, print and distribution hub.
2014
By acquiring Millarose Design House, who specialise in adult nightwear, we grew our portfolio to include an extensive range of mens' and womens' nightwear.
2017
At the helm of the company since the early 70's are twins David and Nigel Aykroyd. Over the last 5 years their children have joined the business. At Aykroyds we really cherish our team members, some of which have been with us as long as 30 years, and are very much a part of the extended Aykroyd family.