Christmas is one of the high points of the year for UK churches, with thousands of services during Advent and more on December 25 itself. It is also one of the busiest times for those working to ensure that everything goes to plan and everyone looks the part.
At Watts & Co, nestled in the heart of Westminster, staff have their heads down putting the finishing touches to new and restored ornate clerical vestments and church furnishings in the basement of Faith House, designed by Edward Lutyens.
“There’s a lot of gold [at this time of year] . . . and we’re all hands on deck,” says seamstress Rachel Whittington, whose current project is a cream silk altar frontal.
“Things don’t always work in the way you want them to. The fabrics are so delicate, and pieces are so different. It’s a lot of problem-solving . . . and attention to detail.”
Set up in 1874 by a trio of Gothic Revival architects that included George Gilbert Scott Jr, son of the designer of the Albert Memorial, Watts & Co’s mission was to provide fittings and fabrics to churches built by the three men.
Today the company — which has a secular sister business that produces interior fabrics and wallpapers — serves places of worship around the world, grand UK state occasions such as coronations, and Hollywood studios.
At as much as £1,715 for a stock chasuble, the sleeveless outer garment worn by a priest, and £495 for a stole, which is draped around the neck, Watts’ hand-sewn vestments are not for everyday wear or for every clergy member. Bespoke items cost even more.
But Robert Hoare, a descendant of Gilbert Scott Jr and the fifth-generation chief executive, insists such prices, while “not inexpensive”, should be seen in the context of production, with English silk threads dyed before they are woven.
“Our vestments will last 100 years. If you buy cheap polyester, it’s ugly, it will give you an electric shock and you’ll have to change it very regularly,” says Hoare, who joined the family business in 2010 after running an events company.
“Younger Catholic priests appreciate beauty more than the previous generation, and they want something they’ll be able to hold on to for their whole career,” he adds. And anyone can buy the garments, because “you don’t have to hand over some ID to buy a clergy shirt”.
Catholic churches, known for their elaborate interiors, now account for more than half of business at Watts, which estimates sales of £2.5mn in the past 12 months. It made a profit of just under £279,000 in the year to December 2024, according to filings at Companies House.
This is despite the company historically being recognised as Anglican because of its links to Westminster Abbey, where George Gilbert Scott was “surveyor of the fabric” and is buried.
Having started life in London’s Baker Street, it has been around the corner from the royal church for more than 70 years on a long lease from the Society of the Faith charity. The group is active in the Anglo-Catholic wing of Anglicanism, focused on Catholic-style ritual and liturgy.
In an almost biblical episode, Watts was struck by a “really catastrophic” flood on June 24 2016, just as Britain was waking up to its historic decision to quit the EU. Vote Leave, the official pro-Brexit campaign group, was originally based down the street.
The deluge — which came days after Hoare had taken the helm — destroyed almost all of the stock and forced the store to close for a year for repairs.
“We just about coped, but it was close,” he says, praising the company’s “amazing” 35-strong team and “loyal” client base, which included Lord Rowan Williams during his tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 until 2012.
“If our customers had all said ‘we want our orders straight away’, it would have been a lot, lot more difficult.”
More recently, higher employer national insurance contributions set out by chancellor Rachel Reeves in her first Budget last year, and import tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump this year, have added to pressures.
Yet “because we’re not competing with the competition that buys these cheap Chinese or Polish vestments . . . in a way that makes life slightly easier for us”, says Hoare, who has just fulfilled an order from the Washington National Cathedral, the second-largest in America.
Watts’ acquisition in 2024 of its biggest rival J Wippell & Co, which folded after the pandemic, has led to an expansion into ceremonial wear and new customers, including the Sultan of Brunei.
Meanwhile a new collection of vestments inspired by Sainte-Chapelle, a Gothic chapel in Paris that boasts 1113 panels of stained glass, is due next year.
“The ancestors were really passionate about design. It always came back to aesthetics and asking, ‘How can we produce something more beautifully?’, says Hoare. “That’s what we are trying to upkeep today in a small way.”