Joseph Cheaney established the company in 1886, and in 1896, along with his son Arthur. During the first 80 years of business, the factory made shoes exclusively for some of the finest retailers around the world, branded to their individual company requirements. Joseph Humfrey Cheaney, the founder’s grandson who worked for the company for 51 years, realised that the company’s future lay in building up its own Cheaney brand for its home and export markets. The Cheaney brand then became available to retailers all over the world, backed by a comprehensive stock service from the Desborough factory. In 1966 Cheaney won the Queen's Award for Industry. In 2009 Jonathan and William Church bought the company. Their family has been making fine shoes for 5 generations and they are committed to producing the finest footwear entirely made in England.