Muirhead Deepens Commitment to North America Through Exclusive Partnership With Douglass
Muirhead, one of the world’s lowest carbon aviation leather manufacturers, has signed an exclusive representation agreement with Douglass Interior Products, a leading supplier of aircraft interior furnishings in the US.
This partnership will enable Muirhead to supply high performance, sustainable Scottish aviation leather to commercial operators across North America.
Douglass has been distributing Muirhead products in the business aviation sector since their US debut in 1980. The new contract reaffirms Muirhead’s commitment to building a local base in the United States to better serve commercial aircraft operators – with deeper market intelligence, customer insights, and tighter relationships.
Douglass will now carry Muirhead’s diverse portfolio of sustainable aviation leather products including LightCore, a lightweight innovation that weighs up to 33% less than standard leather without sacrificing performance, safety, or comfort. Muirhead’s CareGuard anti-soil product and its self-disinfecting ActiveHygiene leather will also be available through Douglass.
Myles Hobbs, Head of Aviation EMEA and The Americas at Muirhead, said: “For more than four decades, our partnership with Douglass Interior Products has been instrumental in building our presence in North America.
“As we continue to grow our operations in the United States, we’re confident that the Douglass team’s local expertise and trusted reputation will continue to be instrumental in providing a local touch and first-hand expertise for our valued customers.”
Mike O’Toole, President of Douglass Interior Products, added: “At Douglass, we’re proud to represent a diverse portfolio of sustainable genuine leather products from Muirhead, which are chosen more than any other leather by the world’s leading airlines, aircraft manufacturers, FBOs, and refurbishment facilities.
“Our 40-year collaboration has brought together two family-owned businesses with a passion for bringing high performance aviation leather to commercial aircraft in North America. We look forward to our exclusive partnership over the years to come.”
Muirhead – which supplies high performance leather to more than 160 airlines, airframe and seating manufacturers globally – first entered the US business aviation market in 1980.
Together with the wider Scottish Leather Group, the manufacturer has decreased the carbon intensity of its hide by 90% in the last 20 years and created the world’s lowest carbon leather, thanks to its industry-leading circular model.
The manufacturing process involves a patented thermal energy plant that generates heat from waste to power the tannery, sourcing and recycling water from its very own loch, and a pioneering "Take-Back Scheme" for end-of-life leather products.
