Make it British Podcast

Today we are going on a trip to Leicester to meet the family behind textile firm Shahtex. The guys at Shahtex are experts in circular knitting. Up until recently, they have been knitting fabrics for big online retailers.⁣ Shahtex have now invested in four state-of-the-art circular knitting machines, the first of their kind in the UK. ⁣These machines enable the factory to produce seamless garments,...

Lucy Jones was the founder of a prestigious, luxury lingerie brand back in the 1980s. Her distinctive silk lingerie was stocked in retailers such as Harvey Nichols and Rigby & Peller. After two decades working in education, Lucy decided to relaunch her lingerie brand, making the entire collection herself and at a small atelier in the UK. In this episode, Lucy speaks about some of the differenc...

Join me on a trip to Leicester to meet Said Saleh and Keith Cummings from Mars Knitwear. Based in Wigston, Leicestershire, the chaps at Mars have been making knitwear for over 30 years. Having been manufacturing thousands of pieces of acrylic knitwear for the big store groups, Mars has now gone back to creating smaller quantities of premium knitwear from British wool, lambswool and merino. They ev...

Monika Young is the founder and creative director of Monika the Label - a sustainable fashion brand inspired by 70s California and made in the UK. In this episode, Monika tells the story of how she set up and her brand, and what actions she took when she discovered her original designs and prints being copied by fast fashion online retailers.    Discover: 04:12 How Monika's experience as...

What are some of the things that I see successful British-made brands do consistently? In the first episode of series 4 of the Make it British podcast I look at what makes for a great British-made brand.   Discover:  04:11 Why having a great story to tell can help customers relate to your business 06:17 How doing one thing brilliantly is better for building brand loyalty 08:40 Why develo...

The new series of the Make it British Podcast is coming very, very soon! Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss it. As well as the usual advice and tips for making in the UK, along with interviews with some of my favourite people that manufacture products in Britain, we are doing something a little bit different this series. Listen in to this trailer to find out what it is!! About Kate Hills &a...

I've interviewed some fantastic guests over the past 3 series of the Make it British podcast. To celebrate the milestone which is 200 episodes, I'm bringing you a summary from 21 of the Make it British members that I have interviewed over the last few years. All of them have built great UK-made businesses and have some great advice to impart!   Stay in Touch British Brand Accelerator &nb...

Starting any business can be tough - especially one that involves making products! Whether you are just about start a brand, or you've already launched and it's not quite going to plan, here are 11 tips that will help ensure success. Discover: Why you should start with why [01:43] One of the first things you need to think about if you want to ensure your product sells [02:49] The reason you need t...

Probably one of the questions that I get asked more than any other is 'how long will it take me to launch a new product if I make it in the UK?' The short answer is - 'how long is a piece of string!'  The long answer is more complex, and involves taking into account several different variables. All of which I cover in this episode.   Stay in Touch British Brand Accelerator  - F...

London-based designer Maria Grachvogel is renowned for her clever use of cutting to flatter the female figure. In this interview, Maria talks about why she has chosen to use more UK manufacturers for her collection, and how changing her business model has helped her to build closer relationships with her clients. She also discusses the importance of quality, and how buying less, of bette...

How do you follow up with a manufacturer (and have a better chance of a response)? In this episode I give you some great tips on how to make sure that you get a response back from a manufacturer ever time. This episode will be particularly useful for anyone who wants to follow up with someone that they met at an event or trade show. Discover: How to stay at the top of a manufacturer's mind 01:07 W...

One of our epidode's from the very first series that is well worth a revisit is this one with Andy Ogden at English Fine Cottons. Greater Manchester was once known as cottonopolis because it was the home to the world’s cotton yarn and fabric production during the industrial revolution. At the turn of the Twentieth Century, there were 9,000 people employed in the cotton industry in Ashton-under-Lyn...

Unfortunately, mistakes can and do, happen in manufacturing, but there are ways to avoid them. In this episode, we look at the main reasons that manufacturing a product usually goes wrong, how to resolve the situation if it does and how to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Discover: What are the common problems that can happen when you're manufacturing a product 01:50 The things you can do t...

In this episode, I chat to Ian Maclean, managing director of John Smedley – the oldest operating factory in the world. John Smedley is one of the finest knitwear manufacturers in the world. The company was established 235 years ago, at the start of the Industrial Revolution, and they still operate out of the same factory in Matlock in Derbyshire. In the interview, Ian talks about the cha...

I think visiting a factory is essential for anyone that is developing a new product. One of the benefits of making in the UK is that factory visiting is far easier than if you are making your products overseas. In this episode, I run through my 7 reasons why you should be visiting a factory – and hopefully, if you’re not doing so already, I will have convinced you by the end! Discover: Why face-to...

Julie Deane CBE, set up the Cambridge Satchel Company in 2008 with £600 and went on to make it a global, multi-million-pound business. But behind the success story, there was a lot of hard work, including having to set up her own factory in Leicestershire almost overnight. In this interview, she tells the story behind the brand and talks about how the business has evolved over the last 12 years. &...

Some people think manufacturers should do any initial work for no charge in order to pitch for your business. But that’s often not the case. In this episode, I explain why many UK manufacturers charge for sampling – and how that can be a good thing. Discover: The incorrect assumptions people may have about why UK manufacturers don't sample for free 01:02 Why being charged for samples upfront means...

Labour Behind the Label is a workers rights organisation that fights for living wages for garment workers. They have produced a  report about the unethical working practices of factories in Leicester making for Boohoo . The industry has often called into question how Boohoo can sell dresses for £4 and still make them ethically in the UK, and this report by Labour Behind the Label makes for di...

In this episode, I look back over the first 100 episodes of this show to find out what makes British-made businesses great. There are many common themes running through the last 100 episodes and that I’ve heard again and again from those I’ve interviewed. Here are the 10 things that make British-made businesses great: UK manufacturers are partners to the businesses they make for Katya Wildman (Ep...

Today I’m chatting to Lindsey James, who is the founder of womenswear brand Violet Flamingo. Lindsey was making and selling bespoke clothing for her clients from her studio before covid hit. Finding herself with no way to reach customers during lockdown, she started to do regular Facebook live calls from her studio, talking to her customers just as she would do if they were visiting her in person....

Just a quick one today, to say that I'm taking a break from recording new episodes after next week. In the meantime, I have selected 10 of the best episodes from the archive for your enjoyment, which will be episodes no.s 188 - 197 I'll be back on 20th August (not 13th as I said on the audio!) with a brand new solo episode no.198   Stay in Touch British Brand Accelerator  - Find out...

Rita Britton is somewhat of a fashion legend.  For 50 years she ran an independent fashion store in Barnsley, Yorkshire called Polyanna, which was an International hub for luxury fashion stocked with Rita's unique style. When Polyanna closed in 2014, Rita focused on developing her own brand, Nomad, made in the UK with fabrics sourced from Yorkshire mills such as Abraham Moon and Joshua Ellis....

If you want to develop a range of products but have little manufacturing experience you might be thinking of employing the services of a production consultant. In this episode, we’re going to look out what services a production consultant might offer, and why you might not want to use one if you want to manufacture in the UK.I’ve also got advice on how to choose a production consultant if you deci...

Brant Richards is one of the founders of HebTroCo. 5 years ago, he and his business partner Ed had an idea in the pub - to start making trousers in Hebden Bridge, a town in Yorkshire that was once renowned for its trouser making. They launched the business on Kickstarter, knowing nothing about making trousers, and within five hours of switching on their crowd-funding campaign they had sold their f...

Do you want a manufacturer in the UK? On today's episode I discuss the reasons why searching in Google for a manufacturer to make your products could be a very costly mistake to make. Discover: What can happen if you select a manufacturer using a Google search 1:29 Examples of what you really find on page one of Google when you type in 'UK clothing manufacturer' 5:22 The misleading phrases that co...