Make it British Podcast

A trip to Stoke-on-Trent this week to visit one of the last remaining potteries. I meet Andy Tooth and Jason Sims, owners of Heraldic Pottery, a company which bespoke prints fine bone china and glassware for designers and illustrators. More recently Andy & Jason also bought one of the last remaining potteries in Stoke - Duchess China, which was founded in 1888. Join me on a trip around the pot...

It’s very difficult to raise your prices for a product after you have launched it or communicated it to your customers. So how you can make sure that you’ve got them right from the start? Whilst the common calculation for working out a selling price might be to take the cost price and double it, or triple it if you are planning to wholesale, there are so many other factors that come in to play whe...

Isn't it disappointing when you buy something you love and it then needs replacing? Joel Chudleigh wants to solve that problem, by helping people to slow down on their purchasing. His ethos is to buy something that is made to last and enjoy it for a long time. His online retail store, Made to Last, brings together some of the best and most durable products that are all made in the British Isles. F...

Why do two similar looking items often cost totally different prices, even in the same shop?  A lot of it is to do with the cost price of the product. Yet so many different factors can affect that cost price. This episode runs through all of the different things that can make the difference to what a product costs - and how that can affect the final retail price. Here's my checklist of factor...

Join me on a journey around the Gosha London studio to find out what the life of a high-end garment manufacturer is really like. Mustafa Fuat started his manufacturing studio 23 years ago, knowing nothing about fashion OR manufacturing. He was in fact a pro footballer for Aston Villa! He’s obviously been doing something right, as he now manufacturers for some of the world's top womenswear brands a...

If you're purchasing something new does seeking out a product that is made in the UK offer sustainability benefits over one made overseas? There’s a lot of talk about sustainability at the moment when it comes to the products that we buy. And you can’t seem to turn without one brand or another launching something that is supposedly sustainable/green or eco. The cynic in me would say that a lot of...

Katie Walker studied furniture at The Royal College of Art in the mid-90s and has had her own business making furniture in the UK ever since. She has three sides to her business; iconic Katie Walker Furniture pieces which sell directly to the public; made-to-order pieces sold as one-offs; and collaborations with other businesses, such as Heal’s and John Lewis Katie holds a Design Guild Mark, which...

Join me on a factory tour around the Her Majesty The Queen's button maker. Established in 1655, Firmin & Sons are the oldest, privately-owned manufacturing company in the UK. At their prestigious metalworks in Birmingham they make not only buttons, but also ceremonial armour, helmets and other accoutrements. Firmin & Sons' sales manager, Tony Kelly, takes us on a tour to dis...

Billy Tannery is the first new goat leather company and tannery in the UK for over 50 years. Despite knowing nothing about leather production when they started, Jack Millington and his co-founder Rory Harker set up their micro tannery in 2016 after discovering the terrible waste of goatskins that are a bi-product of the meat industry. They use the goatskins to make their own leather...

Made Here, Sold Everywhere The UK imports considerably more fashion and textiles than it exports. But the UK Fashion & Textile Association are aiming to address that. Paul Alger is Director of International Business at the UKFT. Over the last 30 years Paul has helped thousands of fashion and textile designers and brands to export their products. He was recently awarded an MBE for his...

The Truth About Branding...it's not about a logo and it's not about generating content Simon Middleton has had a parallel career for the last decade, as a brand strategy adviser, speaker, and author of books including the bestseller Build A Brand In 30 Days. He is also an award-winning manufacturer and creator of made-in-Britain menswear brands Shackleton and now Blackshore Clothing. In 2019 Simon...

Government figures say that manufacturing is only worth 9% to the UK economy - is this correct?  A report by Cambridge University says that the Government has got it wrong when it comes to calculating the value of manufacturing to the UK economy. What is causing the error? And how  should  they be working it out? Shownotes: www.makeitbritish.co.uk/073   Cambridge University Rep...

Tom Glover is from a family manufacturing business originally founded in Wigston in Leicester in 1796. He graduated with a degree in product design, and used his design skills to create the Peregrine clothing brand. He knew that the way forward for the family knitwear manufacturing business was to not have to rely on orders from other brands, but instead create their own. Within 10 years of c...

This week I was at the Houses of Parliament for a meeting with the All Party Parliamentary Group for textiles and fashion to discuss the issue of the lack of skilled garment machinists in the UK. The meeting was organised by Tamara Cincik of Fashion Roundtable, who is the secretariat for the group.  There were several UK garment manufacturers in the room, along with representatives from the B...

There are around 3,800 women in UK prisons at any one time and only one in ten are able to get a job when they leave. It costs £46,000 a year to put women in prison in the UK - why not put this money to good use by training them essential skills while they are there? Barbara Burton is a woman on a mission to do something about this. Her business, Behind Bras, which she wrote the business plan for...

What's the best way of successfully manufacturing small quantities in the UK? In this episode, recorded at Make it British Live!, UK garment and textile manufacturers discuss how designers can work with UK manufacturers. Panellists are: David Williams ( Stoll GB & Knit Design Centre ) Diana Kakkar ( MAES London ) Adam Robertson ( Kalopsia Collective ) This episode was recorded at Make it Briti...

Brant Richards and Ed Oxley tell the story of how they launched British menswear brand HebTroCo. In this audio recording of the talk they did at Make it British Live! 2019, Brant and Ed recount the tale of how an idea in the pub turned into a million pound business in just 3 years. Hear how they: Launched with a Kickstarter campaign that sold 176 pairs of trousers in just 6 hours Used Facebook adv...

How can technology help UK textile manufacturing become more viable? Our panellists discuss what innovations and technology are helping make UK textile manufacturing relevant for the 21st Century. Panellists are: Nick Keyte ( Gieves & Hawkes ) Professor Steven Russell ( Future Fashion Factory ) Mark Randle ( Galaxius Systems ) Andy Ogden ( English Fine Cottons ) This episode was recorded at Ma...

Want to understand more about protecting your designs? Potter Clarkson are Intellectual Property (IP) specialists, and in this talk, which was presented at Make it British Live!, Dave Holt and Sarah Talland present loads of really helpful information about protecting your design rights. If you develop any sort of brand or product and want to ensure that your designs are protected, this episode is...

Join me as I walk you round the trade show floor at Make it British Live! Following on from the Review of Make it British Live! 2019 on Episode 061, this episode gives you the chance to meet some of the wonderful UK-made brands and manufacturers that were at our yearly event. Hear from fabric weavers, machinery suppliers, umbrella makers and carpet manufacturers. Many of our exhibitors are family...

Kate Dawson is the founder of the All in One Company which celebrates its 10th year in 2019. In this inspiring and moving talk Kate tells of the highs and lows of founding the UK's original onesie company.  Made entirely in the UK, in Kate's own factory in Northumberland, the customisable all-in-ones can be created by the customer using an online 3D builder, making each one unique. &nbsp...

Fast or Slow fashion...can we have both when it comes to making in the UK? Find out what our panellists had to say, when they were questioned by environmental journalist and broadcaster Lucy Siegle at Make it British live! Panellists are: Caroline Ash (Fashion Enter), Julia Redman (M&Co), Genevieve Sweeney (Genevieve Sweeney Knitwear) and Henrietta Adams (Henri London). This episode was record...

Tori Murphy trained in textiles at the Royal College of Art and established her home textiles brands in 2012. Starting with just 12 metres of fabrics to produce a few cushions, she now manufactures 8,000m of fabric a year, with a growing reputation for quality, modern fabrics and homeware, manufactured in a traditional way and all 100% woven and made in England. Her brand is stocked worldwide...

Inspiring talks about UK manufacturing took place over the two days of Make it British Live! 2019 at The Business Design Centre, London. In this episode hear a round-up of what the important topics were, and what was discussed by the speakers, who included: Hareesh Kallambella, senior product manager, Burberry Kate Dawson, owner and director, The All in One Company Knitwear designer Genevieve Swee...

Diana Kakkar runs a high end, small batch manufacturing unit in East London. She works with some well-known fashion designers as well as start-ups, helping them to produce their collections. Diana has some great tips for anyone wanting to understand about fashion manufacturing in small quantities. In this episode discover: How Diana transitioned into fashion from a completely different career The...