Do we like them?

Do we like R.M. Williams?

Australian maker of Chelsea boots, leather goods and clothing, based in Adelaide, South Australia.

Our score: 6 out of 10. A well-loved Australian-made brand now back in Australian hands. Our search found no scandals, but also little on its labour or environmental record, so we'd back it with a moderate score.

R.M. Williams started in 1932, founded by Reginald Murray Williams, who died aged 95 in 2003. It's one of Australia's best-known boot brands. The Adelaide workshop is still the heart of it.

In October 2020 Andrew Forrest's Tattarang bought the brand from private equity firm L Catterton, which brought it back to Australian ownership. The Australian Financial Review reported a price of about $190 million, but the parties didn't confirm it.

The deal bought out super fund IFM Investors, which held 13 per cent, and actor Hugh Jackman, who held 5 per cent. Jackman stayed on as a brand ambassador.

Most of its roughly 900 staff are in Australia, including about 400 at the Salisbury workshop in Adelaide. That local jobs base is the main good news. Our searches turned up no scandals, but they didn't dig into labour or environmental detail either, so we land in the middle-to-good range.