Celebrating 30 years of Schoffel Country

A celebration year 

This year marks a very special anniversary for the Schöffel Country brand as we celebrate 30 years since the creation and launch of the original Ptarmigan Shooting Coat back in 1993.

Last May, Peter Schöffel, the owner, chairman and sixth generation of his family to preside over the Schöffel company, and managing director of Schöffel Country, Corry Cavell-Taylor, travelled up to Scotland in search of the elusive Atlantic Salmon to reminisce about the early days of the brand and discuss what they believe has made their partnership so successful over the past three decades.

See how they got on here.

The origins of Schöffel Country 

Back in 1992, Bradshaw Taylor had been appointed as the UK distributor for Schöffel Ski in the UK by Peter’s father, the late Hubert Schöffel. Corry, the managing director of Bradshaw Taylor and passionate countryman was standing in the middle of the shooting field in Northamptonshire, cold and wet, facing bitter north winds wearing his wax jacket.

By lunch, the shooting party were utterly miserable and decided to call it a day due to the freezing conditions, and Corry wondered why, just the week before, he had managed to stay perfectly warm and dry skiing in minus 31 degrees wearing clothing from the Schöffel Ski range.

Corry persuaded Hubert Schöffel to let him take the GORE-TEX fabric technology which was widely used in their ski and outdoor clothing ranges (Schöffel was the first European company to be granted a license to use GORE-TEX) and use it to create the UK’s first 100% waterproof and windproof, breathable and machine-washable coat for the country market.

Along with the experience and assistance of James Purdey and Sons, William Asprey, Roxtons of Hungerford Farlows of Pall Mall, the first Schöffel Ptarmigan shooting coat was launched on the Glorious Twelfth, 1993, and all 300 coats sold out within the first month. A complete success!

Today at Schöffel Country 

Thirty years later, the Schöffel Country brand, which has been built around the family values and guiding principles that have always been central to both Peter and Corry’s family businesses, is now synonymous with the British countryside. Right across the board, the team behind Schöffel Country continue to strive to offer the very best technical, stylish and practical clothing for discerning countrymen and women, with best-sellers including our extensive Ptarmigan shooting coat collection and the now ubiquitous Oakham and Lyndon fleece gilets.

Schöffel Country’s fly-fishing range was introduced in 2021 as a natural progression for the brand, much to the delight of Peter Schöffel who is a passionate fly fisher.

As a team, we continue to immerse ourselves in the country way of life and are extremely passionate about producing the best country clothing on the market today.