Our Company

A short history of Solent Sewing Machines

Founder : Herbert Jenkins - 2nd generation : Brian & Susan Jenkins - 3rd Generation: Ian & Melanie Jenkins - 4th Generation: Sam & Katie Jenkins

Bert Jenkins served in the RAF in India and Burma during World War II and returned and worked as a sewing machine mechanic in the 1940's and 1950's, Herbert started and built up a well respected business in Portsmouth, UK, servicing the local factories which were mainly making garments and corsets.

His 1st shop in Copnor Road, Portsmouth was followed later by shops in Albert Road and Kingston Road in Portsmouth - now also selling home and industrial sewing machines.

Solent Sewing Machines  - Albert Road Shop

Embracing new technologies, Melanie built our first website in the 1990s - that has now grown into a webshop servicing home sewers and small workshops and is overseen by Katie along with our new Port Solent shop.

Our motto is innovation not imitation. Always looking forward to what the sailmaker will need next. 

Solent is not restricted to selling sailmaking machinery - we also pride ourselves on selling quality machinery and products. We already have a range of machines for filter / ducting manufacturers, cover makers, upholsterers and other heavy and technical industries. 

During the last 17 years we also started selling fabric welding machinery from Miller Weldmaster who offer a range of machines for joining industrial fabrics. These are varied - sign & banner makers, tarpaulins, geo membranes, filter tubes and ducting and many more. Not only do Miller Weldmaster have a standard range of equipment but they also build very custom options which have helped many companies improve productivity & quality while saving time and money. 

We also were made a UK distributor for Durkopp Adler industrial sewing machines, one of the best makes on the market today - always improving their range and making long lasting, reliable machines.

We discovered that the sign industry need sewing machinery for unskilled operators that wasn't available. We designed new sewing systems the Solent Texsew Pro and this has become one of our most popular machines.

Looking to the future, the 4th generation have now joined the business, Sam Jenkins in engineering, working with Ian on new innovations and Katie working with Melanie in sales and marketing.

The future is looking bright with new technology, made only by Solent and a team that are here for you. Contact us with your sewing / welding problems we innovate to provide solutions.

New shop opened at Port Solent 2021

Port Solent Shop

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