Earlier this week, I received a pair of Foster shoes - a three eyelet Norwegian stitched apron derby with a lovely dark chestnut finish carrying just a touch of russet brown (less reddish than the photos suggest). They turned out spectacularly well in terms of fit and finish.
Conventional wisdom says the Italians have superior finishing compared to the English shoemakers. If this is any example, I think the English can more than hold their own in this department.