Sewing Machines Direct (SMD) is a family-run business that has supplied sewing machines and associated products since 1960. The business's founder, John Owen, first entered the sewing machine trade in 1960 when he was offered a position as a service engineer with the Singer Sewing Machine Company (UK) Ltd.
In 1980 Mr Owen decided to "go it alone" and started his own sewing machine business in Wrexham called Singer Sewing Machines. Mr Owen was joined by Russell Forrester in 1988 where he started the online business as you have all come to know and love as Sewing Machines Direct. About 15 years ago Mr Owen passed the company onto Russell, who became the Director of Sewing Machines Direct and by following the same principles and values that Mr Owen used when employed by Singer, SMD has placed itself at the very forefront of online sewing machine sales. Our straightforward and "no-nonsense" approach, in which every machine is clearly priced with no hidden charges, provides our customers with the very best customer service.
Russell was joined by David in 2010 where he managed the construction of the new warehouse in Llay Industrial Estate. The new unit has a floor area of 999 square meters (over 10,000 sq ft) which is more than double the size of our previous available storage area. Improving customer service, both internet and retail has been our primary objective in the initial planning and design stages and a new layout together with implementing new methods and systems means that processing Goods In and Goods Out is now much more efficient and order processing has become more streamlined. New infrastructure and machinery is now used to process container deliveries onto pallets which are then transported directly into storage. Pre-palletised shipments are now unloaded, processed and storage space pre-allocated so products can be picked and despatched almost immediately. As you can appreciate, David’s role as Warehouse Manager means he is kept very busy maintaining & managing the unit, keeping track of stock and packaging and despatching all orders.
Russell was joined in the business by his partner Karen. Karen brought with her administration and marketing experience from her time spent at Orange Retail and Gelert. Karen has helped the business break into the world of Facebook and Twitter and she has been working closely with our new Web designer and our SEO advisor.
Amy joined the team in 2014 to help out in the office with administration duties. Amy also processes online and telephone orders and is always on hand to help out and answer the phones, when everyone is busy helping customers.