John Smedley appoints new Managing Director

Heritage British knitwear brand John Smedley has promoted Jess Mcguire Dudley to the role of Managing Director with immediate effect, taking over from Smedley family member Ian Maclean, who now steps into the role of Executive Chairman.

Mcguire Dudley was previously Deputy Managing Director at John Smedley and, prior to that, Global Brand Director.

She first joined John Smedley in 2014 as Head of Marketing and now "breaks with tradition" to become the first Managing Director of the brand from a creative background.

Mcguire Dudley has been pivotal in transforming the marketing and sales side of the business in recent years. She has refreshed the brand’s image and the many ways it is visible in markets around the world, resulting in double-digit increases to John Smedley’s global sales across e-commerce (80%) and its retail stores (6%), as well as growing its physical retail footprint with two standalone stores in London.

In addition to new wholesale showrooms in London and Milan, the footprint of stores in Japan has grown to 11, with further new openings coming in 2025/2026.

Mcguire Dudley said: "There is a real love between me and this business, and I am determined to ensure it thrives for decades to come. The commercial landscape is a challenge for a UK based manufacturing brand; traditional wholesale and retail continue to be tough, and the future has a lot of uncertain challenges, from US tariffs to tax increases.

"But it is a challenge we are up for facing, and we have plenty of new ideas to maintain John Smedley as ‘The World’s Finest Knitwear’."

In recent years, Mcguire Dudley has overseen product projects and manufacturing overhauls that have included a ‘Made in Japan’ collection with key Japanese retailers and a partnership with The Campaign for Wool and British farmers to utilise locally reared fleece.

She has also strategically introduced a new line, ‘JS x John Smedley’, with John Lewis in the UK, which uses circular yarns and brings British manufacturing to a wider audience.

Established in 1784, John Smedley remains the oldest manufacturing factory in the world, still operating in its original home in Lea Mills in the Derwent Valley, Derbyshire.

The appointment coincides with a renewed focus on strategically futureproofing John Smedley, both in manufacturing and in product design.

Mcguire Dudley has recently overseen the reintroduction of its third-party production arm within its Derbyshire headquarters for a small, stable roster of likeminded brands including DAKS.

Mcguire Dudley said: "In addition to our core collections, bringing British fibre to the forefront of what we do, supporting the wider industry of spinners to farmers, and injecting a touch of British innovation into everything we do - that’s how we modernise our industry to ensure we attract new talent.

"We can blow off the cobwebs of the sleepy perception of craftsmanship and show how captivating it can be."

John Smedley holds the Royal Warrant of Appointment from His Majesty King Charles III for fine knitwear and currently employs 275 people.

To further futureproof both the company and British craftsmanship more broadly, Mcguire Dudley will introduce a talent bank to foster training and development in knitwear manufacturing for young people.

She added: "I am keen to nurture talent, making sure John Smedley as a business is a space for people to learn and develop far into the future.”