SATRA figurehead Graham Butlin dies

Graham Butlin led SATRA for much of the 1970s and 1980s.

Graham Butlin, one of the most influential figureheads in the footwear industry of his time, died recently at the age of 84. After joining the company as a research physicist in 1958, he had a distinguished 32-year career with SATRA, and was appointed as director in 1976. Mr Butlin retired 14 years later to take up theological studies at St John’s College in Nottingham.

During the 1960s, Mr Butlin led a team of SATRA experts that was responsible for a number of shoemaking innovations. These included the design of moist heat setting for footwear, which revolutionised the shoemaking process and subsequently won the Queen’s Award for Technology. As director, he played a major role in SATRA’s international growth and was a tireless traveller, a superb lecturer and a skilled negotiator. Mr Butlin was one of the company’s most charismatic and influential people, and was instrumental in helping to develop SATRA into the respected international organisation it is today. He was awarded the OBE in 1983 for services to the footwear industry.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 2 of the March 2014 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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