Wm. Sugden and Sons Ltd. was founded in 1869 when William Sugden married and set up as a tailor in Railway Street, Cleckheaton in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His four sons and his daughter joined him in the business, which grew to become a sizeable draper's shop. In 1896 the two eldest sons started making shirts, with one sewing machine, in the back of the shop. In 1899 the shirt business looked promising enough for the brothers to move to a factory at Water Lane Mills in Cleckheaton and in 1904 they opened a further factory in Barnsley. During the first world war they produced many hundreds of thousands of shirts for the armed forces.

In 1911 they opened a factory in Wakefield to manufacture workwear and army clothing. In 1912 a new factory was built in Barnsley and in 1924 they moved to larger premises in Wakefield. By this time the range of products included shirts, pyjamas and all types of working clothing - all sold under the Water Lane Brand. Their customers were independent retailers and even pawnbrokers. During the 1920's, Wm. Sugdens acquired two weaving mills in Lancashire and it was their proud boast that all the garments they sold, were woven and made in their own factories. During the second world war the company made over five million shirts and work suits for the armed forces.

During the 1950's, the Sugden family decided that as a result of the wave of western films which were being seen by the British public, jeans would become a very popular item and they set up their factory in Wath upon Dearne, in South Yorkshire, to manufacture them. In 1965 the production was transferred to a new and bigger factory nearby, purpose built for the company.

The 1960's brought the first wave of significant imports from cheap-labour countries and by the mid 1960's, Wm. Sugdens had closed their weaving mills and were importing fabric. In 1968 they decided that they needed an association with another large company in order to ensure continued prosperity, at a time of considerable price pressure from imports. In that year, the Sugden family sold its shareholding to another local firm, Double Two, owned and run by the Donner family in Wakefield. The merger proved a good one for both companies. It gave Double Two more badly needed shirt production and new products to develop. It gave Wm. Sugdens access to the powerfully advertised brand that Double Two had built up, which enabled them to get better prices and to compete with the imports. Luckily both the Sugden family and the Donner family, over the years had been fanatics about quality and the merger of the two companies went very smoothly. Since then the current generation of the Sugden family, David and John, have worked together with father and son, Isaak and Richard Donner, to develop the group. John Sugden retired in 1998 and David Sugden retired in 2001. Richard Donner's son, John, entered the business in November 1995. Isaak Donner died in 2000. Richard and John now run the business.

During the 1970's and 1980's, Sugdens developed an enviable reputation for supplying quality uniform shirts and workwear. Their Topflight brand of workwear is widely sold to laundries and distributors, as well as industrial companies and they are the leading supplier of uniform shirts, under the Double Two brand, to U.K. Police Forces and Fire Services. More recently Sugdens has started to supply the National Health Trusts, the M.O.D and the Post Office.

In 1990, David Sugden and Richard Donner were looking for new ways in which to market their products. Richard had read an article in the Harvard Business Review, about how some American companies were increasing their sales to hospitals by offering a wide range from stock, including many products, which were not manufactured by them. From this idea, Richard and David developed their concept of a Managed Service for clothing and they set up a new company, ThreadNeedle Corporate Clothing Ltd., which subsequently became ThreadNeedle Company Image Ltd., after the purchase of a local company - Company Image Ltd.

The Managed Service provides the customer with their complete range of clothing for their employees. It may include the design of the clothing. Garments are sourced from the most appropriate place throughout the world and held in stock awaiting call off by the individual employees. ThreadNeedle is responsible for all aspects of the clothing service to the customer, including the satisfaction of every wearer within that organisation. A computer system has been developed to handle this process, including the control of stock and processing of each individual's orders and invoicing to the customers in any manner to suit their needs. A special design team has been set up to handle the unique needs of these customers. The designers work using the very latest computer aided design system, Tex Data, for yarns, fabrics, prints, knits and garment design. Patterns are produced on the latest Gerber Acumark system and garment specifications on Gerber PDM. Cutting markers are also produced on the Gerber system to ensure perfect sizing and to minimise fabric waste. Special catalogues can be produced for larger clients and used by their wearers to select, size and order their garments. E-Commerce has recently widened the service which ThreadNeedle can provide to its customers by the use of E.D.I. for the transmission of orders and the Internet for access to either a customer's own range of garments or the company's own catalogue. Customers using this service include local authorities, government departments, utilities, retailers and transport organisations.

Sugdens and ThreadNeedle now design and source products as diverse as shoes
and hats, shirts and skirts, tailored jackets and knitwear, workwear and protective clothing. Manufacture takes place in the Far East, the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe. But a core production remains in Yorkshire, where Sugden's rapid response factories can fill in stock gaps created by exceptional demands, can make special measures within a short lead-time, and can develop new products. This enables the company's customers to receive the ideal combination of price, quality, service and design.