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Who we are - Ashley Iles Ltd.Ashley Iles Ltd is a small family run firm. Its story began in the autumn of 1949 when a pattern maker named Ashley Iles gave up his day job and set out on his own to make and sell tools. He began by renting a small workshop in Sheffield for 5 shillings a week and ended up with a factory making carving and woodturning tools with a name known all over the world. Today the company is run by two of his sons, Tony and Barry, with the help of Tony's wife, Christine, who as Company Secretary, looks after the administrative and clerical details. The factory Ashley ran his business in Sheffield until, in 1967, the search for adequate premises led him, and his family, to Lincolnshire. And this is where the factory is today. As a consequence its location is somewhat unusual; instead of being situated on some grimy industrial estate, it sits alone, in the heart of the countryside, on the edge of the Lincolnshire fens, a mile or so from the small village of East Kirkby. Visitors to the factory are welcome |