Following our recent brush with the media we are truly humbled by the overwhelmingly positive feedback about our project. We are very much feeling part of a national community here in the Bradshaw home-stead and are deeply moved by the strength of feeling on the subject of British manufacturing.
As we saw last year – isn’t it great that we, as a country, can rally together (leaving behind all differences) to put our combined weight behind something great? There is a small home in Kent where a normal British family continue to feel a small part of this spirit. We thank you all for it!
While we have spent many late nights trying to respond individually to every email and Tweet that has come to us, we hope you appreciate that this is getting more and more difficult. We promise to read every single communication that you send to us but we apologise if we are unable to get back to you personally. Please do not let this stop you getting in touch though. It is important to us, throughout the next year (and beyond), to get your continued support – both emotional and practical.
– Yours a truly proud British family
Keep it up! And keep up the directory so we can all Buy British more.
I think it’s great what you are doing but I have my doubts whether you’ll be able to truly succeed. Like for eg. complicated machinery or electronic items might be assembled in the UK but have parts from all over…how far do you take it? But good luck, I wish more people did this – Jason
Good Luck with the project from everyone at World Of Luxury Fashion
Brora make British clothes. They are expensive but you can wait for the sales or buy just a couple items a year to keep your wardrobe up-dated.
That’s what we used to do before all the cheap exports started. You actually find the clothes wear & wash better, & are much nicer designs.
Hi There Bradshaws (Defenders of Everything British)
Keep up the good work. What a great idea. I missed your bit on the radio tonight but I will use the listen again function on iPlayer to find out about your story.
Not sure where you are in Kent but I run a Mini Day Spa, called The Green Door in Marden in Kent. If either of you are in need of some beauty treatments or relaxation I can recommend the British products made by Finders that we use on a daily basis for many of our clients. Check out our website for more information at http://www.thegreendoorofmarden.co.uk
Regards
Trudi
We sympathise with the problem of finding “Made in Britain”. We have been trying to do this for years. Why give our money to develop the far east when we can support many of our fellow workers and keep them in jobs or even make jobs for others who dont have one. Too many people think that many of our British branded companies actually make the goods here, but no they would like you to think that when in fact all their products are made in the far east. The other ploy is “designed in Britain” that does not make for many jobs here!
We fully support you and hope the rest of the country is behind you, a country living on service industries is most likely to end up like Greece, bankrupt!
Buy British was once a great slogan lets make it a great fact.
A superb idea 🙂
Enjoyed reading about what you are doing, we have the same problem here in Canada, but my friends and I relax the rules a little bit. Canada first, Commonwealth second. If it doesn’t come from one of theses two sources, then we just don’t buy it, and it makes it easier to find underwear when you need it.
Hi, Saw your article on the news this morning. Really hope you manage the year. Will try and support the ideal, I only buy locally sourced free range meat already. Hope you add to your list of British companies so I can shop there too. The more people support British companies eventually the price of goods will become more competitive. Good luck.
Great idea and I shall be following your year with interest. have been trying ourselves but very difficult to find clothes which are UK made. Even the “better” brands which always were “Made in Britain” now cunningly do not make any reference to where they are made. Marks & Spencer–remember their one time proud boast about British goods? I cant find a thing now made in Britain there. Cambodia, Morrocco, Egypt…and thats just the countries I recognise. You need a world atlas to work out where some of the stuff comes from! Looking forward to supporting your year!
Did a blog about you on http://www.gardenclickers.co.uk today – and you certainly have a lot of support! We want to buy British (truly British) too wherever possible – but feel some things like spices (peppercorns), soya milk,free-flowing cooking salt, coffee and tea may have to continue to come in. I know you have sourced British tea at an exhorbitant price, but it isn’t really a practical option, is it? All good wishes for your continued success from us all.
Well done to you! I’m on a similar private venture – to buy organic everything. This hasn’t been easy with regard to shampoos, washing up liquid, soap etc. Most contain dangerous and hideous chemicals, but I’m getting there!
As people’ve pointed out, you’re not going to find it easy to buy electrical goods manufactured totally in the UK, as many components come from abroad, but you can get TVs which’re produced here.
If you fancy a coffee, roasted dandelion roots produce a nice and similar drink, apparently, and as for nappies – you can use washable ones, which’re kinder to a baby’s skin and don’t contain bleaches or plastic residues.
I wish you well.
Following Sheila’s comment – you really have got us thinking over there on Gardenclickers, and you’ve got me googling. I don’t think I could make quite the commitment you have, but I will be very interested in your progress over the year. I shall be continuing to do my best to support my local food suppliers at the very least, and will try to buy British whenever possible, but I have a small problem. Whispers: what yer gonna do about choccy? Now you see that’s when I’d begin to panic…
Well done. Be interesting to see how you change your lifestyle. eg: do you really need throw-away nappies? My infant existed on 12 towelling ones and that included living in Africa for the first months of his life, travelling back, living without a washing machine for a while. We did have a few throw away ones for emergency but he was allergic to them. Do you really need make up? I am biassed in that I dislike it and would not touch it. Delighted to see you starting to grow your own veg, something I have been working on, it is great to go out in the garden to pick one’s evening meal and know that it is very fresh and it’s only travel miles are the few metres from the garden to the kitchen. What about that coffee? Where does it come from? I wish you luck and hope to follow your blog. I might even make an effort to buy more British myself, but then I am not one to go to the shops anyway.
Loved watching your interview on the news this morning.What a fantastic challenge ahead of you.We need more people like you to promote us British makers.I read last year that by the end of the 2nd World War, Britian was over 90% self suffient.Is there hope we can be like that again?
In 2007 we set up a small handmade UK gift and home living company, where all our goods are made in the UK and source all materials here.We source our vintage furniture too in the UK, and keep everything local.Love to be on your British directory once its up and running. Good luck with your year ahead,I’ll be following your journey! http://www.redcave.co.uk Juliette.
Surely you should shop at shops that pay full British tax, shouldn’t you?
Heard about your project on the radio this evening – we share your belief in buying British as much as we can, so good luck over the coming year and I hope you continue to enjoy discovering all the wonderful quality British made products available to buy.
Hi Guys, Love that you have taken this initiative, totally agree that we should ALL try this.
I have noticed that all major retailers now seem to hide behind ambiguous labeling and am sick of Tesco and B&Q and Ikea, for instance, importing from China, and go look at China and how they treat people and their conditions and they are a communist country, not a capital country!
Save our own jobs and way of life, insist on Made in Great Britain, if not, Europe!
With you all the way, I try too, but will double my efforts, thanks for being a leading light, the ‘people’ really are fighting back! :-0)
Great idea!
Good luck to you – and please keep the directory updated so we can support local businesses.
Hi, Good Luck, I have been buying British produced goods since I was 15 years old almost 30 years!! People think i’m either sad or in-sane. I don’t see it that way, we need to support our Manufacturing base. Not everything we import now will be cheap in the future as the manufacturing costs will rise in China / India, etc. When they have under cut their competitors and they are no longer in the market place. These foreign manufactures will be able to control supply and therefore prices.
The internet is key in obtaining a lot of British made products and its surprising how much is out there, all the clothes I have brought for myself in the last 6 months has been made in the UK. More British produced goods are reaching the shops, River Island, BHS and John Lewis sell some UK produced clothing items.
My utility suppliers are British and 80-90% of my food shop is British Produced, somethings we just don’t make although I’ve heard there’s now a British Salami available on the market?
All the best with your quest, glad to know i’m not the only one!!
Tony
We’re feeling really inspired by your project, and I’ve been telling everyone I’ve seen today about your cause! To speak from the manufacturer’s point of view for a moment (my husband and I run a microphone company), we recently decided to make our latest product fully in the UK. It’s been a great experience and the resulting product (our SONORA 2 preamplifier) has been amazingly positively received. But you wouldn’t believe how frustrating it has been to be confronted by some British suppliers stuck in the dark ages. About a year ago, I spent an hour on the phone to a supplier regarding the printed cardboard packaging. We were both bemoaning the lack of support for British manufacturing and he was fully supportive of and inspired by our project. When it finally came to talking prices and deadlines, I couldn’t believe it when he told me that he would send me a quote by post (!!) within 10 to 14 working days (!!!!!). The quote, when it eventually arrived, was over seven times the amount I’d already been quoted by another supplier (by email, the same day) a few miles down the road from us. It’s a wonder some of these people are still in business, but on the flip side, in our project to create our made-in-England SONORA 2 preamplifier, we came across some truly inspiring factories, printers and craftsmen, and we’re sure you will too! Good luck with everything!
Lisa & Trevor (Sontronics)
There are still some of us who completely make in England from materials purchased in England. At tinyeco we do anyway.
If more people supported truly English made products instead of being sucked in by clever marketing maybe more of us would be able to keep going.
A great blog and I look forward to hearing more about your experience & your suppliers lsit growing 🙂 as I just know I’ll find that really useful.
Best of luck to you all
Well done to you all, and the best of British to you! We are about to replace our oven with a British-made Belling, we can’t find a British fridge-freezer though. I’ll be keeping a close eye on your year.Regards.
Garry, im currently looking to replace my fridge freezer, there are a couple of companies but not researched fully yet to see if their products are made in the UK LEC is one and is still under British ownership. The other is Ebac I know they manufacture most of their products in the UK and are going to open a new washing machine factory in the UK something else no longer made here until it opens. They have fridge freezers on their site. Not sure if it helps.
However Tony and others, from where do the parts, materials etc come for products ‘manufactured in UK’?
@Jane- I can understand the frustration that parts/materials may not come from the UK but its good that some manufacturers as above are/starting to manufacture in this country as this employs people.If it takes off and more is made in the UK perhaps this will create a market for UK made components/material etx
Search for ‘Ebac’ who are making fridge/freezers in this country now I believe.
You have my full support! PLease contact me on addy supplied and i shall do my best to give your project a voice on the Google PLuss social media Network ( abit like Faceook, but far more powerful in my view). G+ also has quite a good collection of very good tech heads thats may be able to help on a practical level! Regards Simon Green
Keep up the good work! I saw you on Breakfast TV this morning and I applaud your ambition. I hope you succeed in your quest and keep the directory up to date. I want, where possible, to buy British and watching an ordinary family work things out is great support and inspiration!
I think what you’re doing is excellent and I wish you every success.
I think there should be laws banning claims of Britishness when the goods are actually made abroad. We need some kind of regulated “Stamp of Britishness”.
However I think avoiding imported food items that aren’t suited to being grown in our climate isn’t necessary.
btw it looks like your website is hosted in Germany!
I think it’s a great idea and you have inspired me to be far more careful of where the things I am buying actually come from!
In the BBC article all about your new endeavors it listed a few item you have been struggling to get hold of. I am passionate about cooking so would be lost without my garlic. You may have already found some grown in Britain or just not find it as essential as I but I just thought I would draw your attention to the garlic farm on the Isle of Wight. You can order online Or indeed any produce from the Isle of Wight? Hope it helps.
Goof luck for the coming year!
A marvellous project- I have done my best to buy british goods as much as possible for years, but have never been so ambitious/disciplined as to attempt to buy ONLY British, so I thoroughly salute this endeavour!
Buy local first, buy British second.
This is brilliant, and long overdue – thank you. More info on what’s made in Britain and where to buy it would be great.
Really great to hear about your quest. Fantastic stuff – I’ve been making attempts to buy British clothing after Mary Portas” nicker programme last year. Your have inspired me to try harder.
I have been in the Rag Trade one way or another all my life.As a teenager there was only Chelsea Girl and if you wanted something unusual you made it.There was not mass market of off the peg clothes at the scale there is now.
I have worked as a machinist for (Collins and Hayes) still make Top end Furniture in East Sussex STRUGGLING.
(Sussmans) and (Carston Shirts) I believe both made for Marks and Spencers both from East Sussex now CLOSED ( Jaegar) was in Burgess Hill I dont know if there still.
Children are not taught sewing at school.
Mary Portas she said she has 10-15 years before you lose your teaches of the trade to retirement she is so right.
I have made curtains for 25 years usually mostly Top End as I cannot compete with imports.Bespoke interlined curtains too expensive to import ,plus a British idea to keep heat in our old houses so hopefully safe for now?
We have all day dreamed our way into giving our jobs away .Well done for showing this.
Rae