It is not often that the EU tinkering in British affairs gets our seal of approval but in the case of a recent vote for a mandatory “made in Britain” label we must give the European bureaucrats a big slap on the back. The strange thing is that our own representatives in Europe do not agree.

The European parliament have, by a small majority, voted in favour of making labels specifying country of origin compulsory for all goods sold in the EU.  Those that vote against include Germany and Britain.

The counter argument against compulsory labeling is that such action could damage companies that rely on global supply chains and imported goods. This argument in itself seems to acknowledge public demand for British made products. By offering clearer labeling many companies that currently import, or hide their origins behind misleading marketing,  may lose out.

In a recent  Guardian article it has been suggested that under the proposed protocols some British trains, German coffee machines or Italian shirts would have to be relabeled “made in Japan, “made in Morocco or “made in Vietnam”.

In the same article I am pleased to see that the Made in Britain marque that we launched earlier in the year was mentioned.  However, I would like to offer a correction to what was published however. The Made in Britain marque does have ambitions to sign up 2000 supporting companies by the end of the year but these businesses will not just be made up of small players in British manufacturing, as the article suggests. Some of the businesses that already use the logo are very large or well known brands like Belling, Marshall Amplification and Mathmos. The efforts of this campaign will be to support British manufacturing whatever the scale of business.

Here is a Guardian article in full: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/15/european-plan-made-in-label-source-country

What are your thoughts about these new plans?

Here is a short overview of how British manufacturing has declined over the last 60 years. Produced by RealitySwipe (Twitter: @realityswipe). Please do give it a watch.

A growing sector

1972 saw Britain’s car production peak, with close to two million manufactured on British soil. Though this has depleted significantly, with the UK now ranking 14th healthy incline is promising a bright future for the industry.

A steady increase since 2009 is set to continue according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). “The UK’s key strengths” says a representative of the Society, “are in its engineering expertise, workforce flexibility and strong support  from government. These factors, coupled with a robust domestic supply chain and the UK’s enduring automotive heritage, will see automotive manufacturing in the country grow for years to come”.

Regional manufacturing 

The map below, from Chaucer Direct, displays the spread of car manufacturing plants across the UK presently. Hover over the map to see the employee opportunities as a result;

Growth in jobs

Osbourne’s call for doubled apprenticeships is a promising one for a sector investing heavily in such employment. The SMMT remarks that the “resurgent UK motor industry has a huge range of fantastic career options”, predicting 100,000 new jobs by 2020, “global manufacturers and suppliers large and small are continuing to invest in training young people for industry, with take-up of apprenticeships increasing 39% over the last two years”. Though also encouraged by the announcement, Chief Executive Steve Nash of the Institute of the Motor Industry warned that “we are still unclear of whether these are additional 100,000 apprenticeship places and whether they will be allocated to specific sectors”.

Growth in jobs

On a global scale, the UK still has significant progress to make. Nonetheless, investment and Government promises are certainly pushing the sector in the right direction and time will tell if this optimistic period is long-lasting.

Not quite Willy Wonka but still a dream ticket for us!

Can there be any greater declaration of playground love than ‘Be Mine’ or ‘Forever Yours’? For 60 years Love Hearts, made in Derbyshire by Swizzels Matlow, have been bringing young hearts together… and we feel that this needs to be celebrated.

Today, this truly British delicacy is exported across the globe while also being translated into other languages including French and German. Over the years they have also kept up with changing trends and technology, ‘Fax Me’ or ‘Page Me’ anyone?

If you want to tell your loved one, in 3 words or less, how you feel now is your chance. The good people of Swizzels Matlow are giving you an opportunity to enter their competition to design your own Love Heart. 

You can design your own Love Heart here

Anything made by Swizzels Matlow is a firm favourite in our house and not just Lucan. James is particularly fond of Parma Violets.

– Emily

While the basic raw ingredients are not British there are some fantastic chocolatiers manufacturing Easter eggs  in the UK. Before you buy your chocolate treats this spring take a look at some of the best of British we have found. Here is our ultimate guide to British Easter eggs for 2014.

The Classic

High street chocolatier  Thornton’s has been a mainstay of the British Easter for over 100 years. I remember getting these every year with my name hand piped on the front. they still offer this service in most stores.

£6.99

The Organic One

Made in West Sussex this egg is a fantastic blend of very dark organic chocolate. Montazuma supply the supermarkets too so you might be able to grab one on your usual shop.

£7.99

The Extravagant one

Bettys use Swiss chocolate but are all hand made in the UK. There output is to often be found at the top of polls for the best choccy.

£35.00

The best for Kids

Chococo are another well know name that is available in supermarkets. This Crackletastic Egg features popping candy and filled with chocolate beans.

£12.95

 The’ it doesn’t need to be Easter’ Easter egg

Cadburys has tragically been sold off to the Americans and much of the production moved abroad but you can still get a British made Creme Egg.

60p-ish

The Something different Easter Egg

Despite the name Hotel Chocolat are very British and even grow and import their own cocoa to make their choccy treats. This Egg & chips is an innovative twist on the Easter egg theme.

£14.00

The shareable Easter egg

The Hope & Greenwood Keepsake egg (available from John Lewis) is a funky polka-dot tin filled with your favourite Spring animals

£7.00

The more money than sense Easter Egg

Exclusive to Fortnum & Mason this Jewellery Easter egg features not just the fine chocolate you would expect but also a only a gold plated necklace from London designer Alex Monroe.

£200

The Wow Factor Easter Egg

This Linden Lady egg is available in Waitrose and looks truly impressive with its marbled contrasting chocolate.

£15.00

Happy Easter and don’t eat too much British choccy!

There is a bit of controversy on Twitter at the moment surrounding high street fashion label Joules and their use of the tagline ‘boldly British’. There seems to be general anger that this statement misleads the consumer into believing that the garment is made in UK. I would have to say that this could be true. Joules, I am sure, would say that they are aligning this statement with the design origin and not the place of manufacture. They might also likely be quick to point out that in the same picture it does state that the item is ‘Made in China’, like the vast majority of Joules clothing.

However, I feel that the size and style difference of the two typefaces used in both the ‘boldly British’ statement and the ‘made in China’ tag are likely to confuse the average consumer. Then couple this with phases like ‘fresh from the fields of Market Harborough’ (as opposed to the fields of Beijing) and the brands general overuse of the British flag, and associated themes, and you begin to see what people are not happy about. Jack Will is another brand which markets heavily based on shallow British provenance.

It has to be said that Joules make some great clothes that are well designed and in a style that Mrs B and I both appreciate, but it just isn’t British made and not confusion to the contrary should exist. Legally Joules are untouchable in the matter, but morally??

What do you think?

As you may know I am on the board of the Made in GB campaign that has launched a logo that guarantees British manufacture when shown on a product.  This logo is set to become the recognised standard for British origin goods across the globe and will remove any instances of doubt for consumers. See more about this campaign here: www. madeingb.org

–          James

It is with some trepidation that we announce our featuring on the BBC One program Rip off Britain Food tomorrow at 11am. I say trepidation because, having watched a couple of the previous episodes in the run, I have some concerns that it is that it quite sensationalist program. I tend to come away thinking that some of their arguments are a little laboured in an effort rile the viewer.

We were obviously interviewed about our stance on buying British but we have not seen the edit and know very little about the issues they will present or how we will come across. What is worse it that neither Emily nor I will be around to watch it tomorrow so we will have to wait to watch in on demand in the evening.

However, we had a great day filming with Julia Somerville at our home here in Westerham and can only hope that we come across well. 

– James