A brush with history

A family in Wiltshire has built a 100-year-old empire on brushes for sweeping, scrubbing, cooking and construction, finds Julie Harding

- Julie Harding

THE Coward family is bristling with pride. Sales of its 3,000-item brush range, manufactured in slumberous Mere, Wiltshire, under the Hillbrush name, have been so stratospheric as to turn this former back-yard business into Britain’s biggest in the sector. An empire built on brushes for sweeping, scrubbing, cooking and construction, the no-nonsense, hardworking objects that emanate from the Hillbrush stable turn up all over the world in the factories of global brands (Coca Cola and Heinz, to name but two), in royal households, parks, schools, supermarkets, restaurants and hospitals, on farms and in incalculable homes.

One such residence belongs to MD Charlie Coward, who shares the helm of Hillbrush with his cousin, Andy. ‘I live on a farm with my family. We have horses and, occasionally, I help with the stable chores with one of our yard brooms,’ says Mr Coward. ‘Among the brushes in our house is a dish brush and I’d never be without it. My wife, Kerstin, and I share domestic chores and that suits me, because we both like a clean and tidy space.’

Exactly a century ago, Mr Coward’s great-grandfather Fred and his great-uncle Bill started hand-crafting brushes as a spin-off from their father Arthur’s woodturning business. The First World War returnees—Fred brought home a Military Cross and Bar, whereas the discovery of Bill’s underage enlistment sparked his hasty retreat from France—raised £420 of capital, christened their fledgling firm Hillbrush, due to their modest workshop being sited in the shadow of Mere’s Castle Hill, and set about building up an agricultural customer base.