The Repair Shop sees restoration experts tackle Britain’s throwaway culture by bringing the general public’s items back to life.
The popular restoration series airs on Wednesday evenings, holding a position on BBC One’s 8 pm primetime slot.
In each episode, the regular Repair Shop presenter Jay Blades has guest experts join him in the barn to fix-up broken items. Everyone from Steven Fletcher and Kirsten Ramsay to heartthrob Will Kirk has visited The Repair Shop.
But who is saddle maker and leather expert, Suzie Fletcher? Here’s everything you need to know about the Equestrian loving saddle maker whose knack for restoration work seems to run in the family.
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Who is Suzie Fletcher?
Suzie is a Master English Saddle Maker based in Oxfordshire, who is also a member of the Society of Master Saddlers. Her work with saddles has led her to be a master of working with leather and so she also works on furniture restoration.
Her love of horses and saddles came from her childhood, as Suzie was a keen rider and still looks after horses to this day.
Rather than go down the professional riding route, Suzie pursued a career as a Master Saddle Maker. She began her training in 1975 under the instruction of Ken Langford. Suzie then spent two years at Cordwainers College in London. As she would have begun her craft training in her late teen years or early twenties, we’d estimate that Suzie Fletcher is aged in her mid-sixties.
After her work in the UK, Suzie became so successful that she moved to Colorado, US, for 22 years working as one of America’s top saddle makers.
You can find out more about Suzie’s services as a saddle maker and leather restorer through her website.
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Who was Suzie Fletcher’s husband?
While Suzie was living and working in America she met her now late husband. He worked as a heavy-equipment machine operator. After his passing, Suzie returned to the UK.
Although we do not know about the identity of Suzie’s husband, we know about his death as Suzie has previously referenced her grief on the show. Suzie Fletcher’s husband passed away from cancer.
In a 2019 episode, a client of The Repair Shop turned up with a rocking horse which evokes painful memories for Suzie. When it was revealed that its late owner also passed away from cancer, Suzie was overcome with emotion. Suzie said:
I felt like I’d been hit by a sledgehammer when I discovered Paul Yates had written his name and the date beneath the saddle. He did it when he and his wife would have had all those dreams and plans ahead of them, only to have them snuffed out in the same way they were for me and my husband.
Suzie’s brother Steve on The Repair Shop
If you were wondering if The Repair Shop regular Steve was related to Suzie, then you’d be right!
These two siblings have both featured as experts throughout the series since it first started in 2017.
While Suzie has a way with leather, Steve’s focus is on clock repair and restoration. Steve also lives in Oxfordshire where his clock repair shop – The Clock Workshop – is. The Clock Workshop has been in the Fletcher family for three generations, as their grandfather opened it in Witney, Oxford in 1910.
Steve’s craft training also began in the early 1970s.
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