Newgate (company)

Newgate is a British clock and wristwatch manufacturing company headquartered in Oswestry, Shropshire. It produces an assortment of clocks, as well as designing and producing clocks for other brands.

Background
Newgate was founded in 1991 by Jim and Chloe Read. The name was inspired by the old New Gate Toll near their apartment and first home in Oswestry.

They were first seen at a trade exhibition at London's Alexandra Palace where orders for clocks were received from Harrods, dozens of home stores and several European distributors.

In the 1990s, 75% of the clocks produced were exported around the world. The clocks were all manufactured in the Oswestry factory until 2003 when production moved to Asia, for lower manufacturing costs and higher production capacities.

Jones Clocks, a fushion brand, was made in 2005, and is a fashion clock brand. Its products are sold to supermarkets and large home and DIY centres.

In 2009, the company purchased a large ex-Laura Ashley factory in Oswestry that required refurbishment. This included new facilities, offices and showrooms; which were built in a classic style and furnished with original 1940s furniture. The building also houses Newgate's design studios and its collection of industrial and vintage clocks.

In 2012, work started on a range of watches. The Newgate Watch collection took three years to come to fruition when a range of fifty watches was launched at the Spring Fair in Birmingham, in February 2015. The UK watch trade publication WatchPro featured Newgate Watch founders Jim and Chloe Read in the Trailblazer category of the WatchPro Hot 100 of 2016.

A portfolio of short films was made in 2015 to showcase each watch and clock family.

Newgate watches are sold worldwide through distributors like iWorld.