The British Family have a British made classic car… sort of.

So we have recently invested in a British made car and I suspect you will be surprised by our choice. If I say that it is a much loved British classic, an undeniable an icon of UK motoring and regularly featured in TV and film your thoughts might immediately got to a Aston Martin DB8, a Jaguar E-Type or perhaps even a Lotus Elise.  However, our sights were set somewhat lower.

Yes – I am now the very proud owner of a MII Reliant Robin.

At this point, dear reader, you might be thinking that I have lost my mind. This is indeed a view shared by Mrs B (who has adamantly said that she will not be seen dead in it) but there is method to the apparent madness.

First things first, the Robin is not our main family car. The ‘plastic pig’ is admittedly not an ideal family run-around and it’s zero N-cap rating suggest that transporting a new baby might not be a wise move. But, it really is a lot of fun… and that’s the point.

I have wanted one for years and recall a time when you could pick them up in good nick for around £300. Those days are long gone. Good/rare examples are now changing hands for as much as £8,000. Years of trike conversions and banger racing has meant that they are very much an appreciating classic.

You might be glad to know that my example is neither in the extremely rare nor very good condition category and set me back a little over £1000. So, as a folly is it not a massive investment.

So, why did I buy it? Well, being a biker with only a motorcycle licence it is the only car I can drive without going for a full driving licence- which, even to me, seems like a crazy loophole. I also wanted something that myself and Lucan can go on fun outing in and on this score the Robin is already paying dividends.

$_12Anyway, I thought it might be fun to do a quick review of the much maligned Robin:

My particular Mk2 Reliant Robin as built in Tamworth in 1994 featuring the second of 3 body shapes to over it’s over 30 year production run. It is the SLX model which was the higher spec-ed of the range when it was released. It has a 850cc engine, 4 seats and 3 doors under a completely fibreglass body shell.

The ride:

The engine is actually pretty pokey. Weighing less than 500kg it pulls away from the lights faster than most modern cars. The 4 speed gearbox is clean and precise but you need to be careful to change down on hills or you will eventually start rolling backwards. On one of the rare motorway jaunts in the car all I can say is that it got to 70MPH and (everso slightly) beyond with not struggle at all. It also felt very planted.

The main question I have been asked about owning a Robin is “will it flip over”. The short answer is – no. The slightly longer answer is – if there are a unique set of circumstances where you are doing 50MPH around a hairpin bend on a 10% camber then possibly. Otherwise, it feels really stable.

The trim and accessories:

The SLX comes with cassette radio, heated rear windscreen and internal heater (powered by the heat of the engine). I might change the radio but I must say that it does the basics pretty well. The interior trim and overall quality of the plastics inside are pretty appalling. The wafer thin dash and door cards and dash are all let the experience down.

The seats are tiny. In fact the whole drivers space is tiny. It requires you to put the key in the ignition and  wind the window down before you get in as both of these tasks are difficult one in the drivers seat. Also, the pedals are really close together, which means that if you wear big boots you can be stepping on 2 peddles at the same time. It really is quite tight in there. Saying that though, the boot space (especially when the 2 back seats are down) is massive. I could get 2 full size bikes in there if pushed and still have space for the picnic basket.

Fun factor:

There is something about this car that perhaps no other car has, and that is a specific place in the British psyche. The Robin makes people smile, wave, run along side.

The downside:

People, after a few drinks, find it amusing to lift it up and put it on it’s roof. This has already happened to my Robin under my brief ownership.

 

So, where next for the trusty Reliant? Well, me and a friend of mine are planning to drive the trusty Robin the length of Britain in August on a pilgrimage to the distilleries of Islay. The plan will be to video our adventures along the way and the results will be presented on this very site shortly after.

James

Do UK manufacturers want Brexit?

brexit-trade-605917With the clock ticking down towards the EU referendum, a recent survey seems to suggest that UK manufacturers anre leaning toward escaping Europe.

Leeds-based Manufacturing Futures have recently conducted a poll of business leaders from across the full spectrum of UK manufacturing companies and asked if they felt they would be better served by the UK remaining in the European Union.

The results are quite interesting – of the 900 businesses surveyed around 55% believe that they would be better off outside of the EU. That being said, 14% suggested that they could still be persuaded to change their minds either way.

Arguably, these results seem to reflect the general populations current feelings on the subject.

The UK is now the 11th largest manufacturing nation in the world and there has been much debate, from both sides, as to what leaving the EU might do to our manufacturing sector. The argument from the Remain campaign that Brixit will ultimately stifle free trade with Europe and so hinder our already fragile manufacturing output does not, it appears, seem to be concerning the sector too much at this point.

However, with just one week to go it is clear that many in manufacturing, like the rest of the population, can still be pushed either way.

Share your views on this debate in our comments section.

British Wine versus English Wine: The Potential PR Disaster

biddendenBritish wine is a distinct and very different product to English wine. If you have tried ‘British’ wine it tends to be sweet, sickly and (even to a wine philistine like me) quite clearly a poor quality product. By contrast, English wine is now being hailed as some of the finest being produced in the world and the sparkling wine is being seen to consistently outstrip Champagne in international competitions.

I was reading an article this morning from a New Zealand news site with the headline ‘The ‘British’ wine made from imported grapes’. It took the view that there is widespread confusion between the two products, especially in the international market. I tend to agree but would go further and say that this confusion, as the popularity of English wine grows,  is likely to be extremely damaging.

British wine is made from imported grapes, or worse, a sort of grape syrup, which is then fermented in the UK, it is not made from the grapes that are grown in British vineyards.  The practice is legal and widespread in the £240m discount wine industry, and cheap wine brands have become increasingly popular in recent years.

Tesco, Asda and Lidl are among those selling ‘British’ wines made from cheap grapes grown and pressed abroad. They are then labeled as being a British product. I suppose, in reality, this process is no different to importing cotton and making a T-shirt in the UK so it is hard to call this labeling disingenuous, as some suggest. However, the result is that English wine is very likely to get tarred with the same brush as British wine in the minds of many.

So, in short, the English wine industry, in my opinion face a ticking time bomb of a PR problem here. My advice to the English wine industry would not be at attacking the ‘British’ wine makers, as some have taken to doing. But rather attempting to rebrand their own product to make it clearly more distinct. They should get together and as a collective invest in the future of thier industry.

– James

 

New Made in Britain Mark proposed for Jewellery

The National Association of Jewellers (NAJ) has proposed plans to launch a ‘Made in Britain’ mark, what they say, is an initiative to drive jewellery sales.

Hallmarking item made of gold and silver is a common practice and has been since around 1300. It is currently undertaken by the 4 British assay offices in Birmingham, Sheffield, Edinburgh and London.

AssayOfficeMark

                               The 4 British Assay Hallmarks In use today.

However, this practice of Hallmarking is an effort to determine the metal content of the product rather than, as many believe, a verification of where the product was made.

The NAJ hope that a ‘Made in Britain’ mark will not only help to boost sales to overseas markets, but it will also provide provenance to jewellery pieces in the future.

If the plans go ahead, the mark will be owned by the NAJ and then licenced to its members at which point they will have an entitlement to utelise the stamp. There are, as yet, no suggestions of how the final mark might look.

The project is currently in the early stages of development, with the NAJ currently researching regulatory restrictions and feasibility of the mark. Mush will also depend on the markets appetite for such a service and their ability to see the potential it could offer in boosted sales.

In our opinion, for what it is worth, any effort to clearly mark goods as made in Britain can only been a good thing.

British Charcoal party with Tregothnan

On a lovely sunny Thursday morning I was invited by Jonathan Jones from Tregothnan to come with other food writers and local producers to see how Tregothnan make their super British charcoal. As we are heading towards BBQ season it seemed a perfect opportunity to go and see how this vital ingredient of the British summer is made.

The charcoal is made in Mereworth, Kent which is great news for me as it is a mere hop skip and jump down the road. Here they coppice around 50 acres of woodland a year and use some of that to create their charcoal with the rest being sold off as logs or into the timber trade for furniture.The wood in the charcoal is all hardwood (mainly a mixture of oak, chestnut and birch) and has absolutely no chemicals or additives, giving a clean BBQ experience. Once felled it is seasoned (left to dry out naturally) for about 18 months depending on the wood variety and is then packed into one of two huge retorts. They are sealed and then heated to push out the moisture in the wood, leaving you with high quality charcoal. Once it is cooled it is graded and packed with nothing going to waste. These guys have a use for every last part of the tree and show great respect and care for their surroundings and the product they make.

To give us a demonstration of just how good the charcoal was we were treated to a lovely lunch cooked by the Charcoal Champion Chef – Mark Parr from the London Log Company using beef from Phillip Warren, which I must admit was possibly the best beef I have ever eaten from a grill. He explained to us that almost all of the charcoal which is used in the UK is imported from South America and is normally left quite hard so that it travels the long distance well without breaking into chunks too small to use. This means that you have to burn it for much longer before it is ready to cook on and inevitably need to use some sort of chemical firelighter to get it going. The benefit therefore of UK made charcoal is that they can create a slightly more brittle product but one that then doesn’t need anything more than a match to get it going, giving a purer flavour and no danger of putting firelighter chemicals into the food.

We were introduced to the Head Collier, Jamie Sutton who explained that the wood used was coppiced from the surrounding woodland. This is essence is planting maiden trees, leaving them for up to 10 years and then felling them in a certain way to leave a stump from which multiple new trunks can grow. The new trunks are left for anything up to 20 years (depending on the variety of wood) and then felled to allow the process to start again. This gives really good yield for the ground space used and also creates great habitats to support the local wildlife.

Although it is unlikely that we could ever be completely self sufficient for our charcoal needs, British made charcoal should be something which everyone tries to look out for. You can find the Tregothnan bags available online here or you may find it in your local supermarket if you search hard but check that it really has been produced here and doesn’t just carry the union flag! There are lots of people up and down the country doing this so if you can’t get hold of Tregothnan please try to find your own local charcoal producer. It can make all the difference in the flavour of your BBQ and what’s more you will be supporting local industry as well as protecting habitats for local wildlife.

-Emily

British manufacturing worst in the world – says report

osborneGeorge Osborne certainly has a lot to answer for – UK manufacturing has shrunk twice as fast as other other developed nations since 2000, with more than 100,000 jobs lost.

In a wake of a further budget, a report by the respected think-tank, the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) exposed the steep decline of UK manufacturing by announcing that Britain’s manufacturing base is one of the worst performing of the world’s developed countries.

Output in our once world leading Steel and chemical industries have stagnated during the economic recovery and have seen at least 100,000 jobs disappear in recent years.

The stagnation of ‘foundation industries’ like basic metals, chemicals, wood and pharmaceuticals also threatens the success of the governments plans for a ‘Northern Powerhouse’, with many of those sectors are concentrated in the North, Midlands and Wales.

Some 90% of domestic demand for chemicals and metals come from imports – some of them subsidised by the British taxpayer, up from 40% in the 1990s.

The report suggests that an increase in these core manufacturing sectors of just 1% in UK production would add an extra £2.3 billion to gross output and create 19,000 jobs. So it is clear that there needs to be renewed calls for government action to stop the dumping of steel and other metals on British and European markets by China and Russia.

The report goes on to suggest a number of, seemingly sensible, options to help recovery; The provision of reduced energy costs for steel-makers and other firms, a regional growth fund underspend should be used to boost struggling industries such as aerospace, automobile and pharmaceutical manufacturing and a new ‘right to buy’ for employees to take over firms that are about to close or be sold off.

The later, to my mind, is perhaps the most interesting of these.

You can read the full report here.

 

Review: Farmers Choice v Ocado

We were contacted recently by Farmers Choice, a company founded in 1984 bringing British free range produce from dirt to doorstep, to review some of their boxes of farm fresh goods. They started as an online butcher and have developed their ranges to include fish, groceries and all sorts else. Being no strangers to veg boxes, it has been no secret that we have managed to save about 20% on our food bills by using such schemes – So we were keen to see if Farmers Choice offered us similar savings.

We received two boxes from Farmers Choice, the Sunday Roast Chicken pack and the Weekly Essentials pack. The meat arrived mostly frozen in one box, with some extremely clever packaging to keep it perfectly fresh, consisting of dry ice packs and recyclable wadding. We had a whole chicken (with the giblets which the cat devoured!), chicken stir fry pieces, beef mince, 6 slices of thick cut bacon and some lovely thick cut ham (this was chilled not frozen). I have to admit that most of our meat usually comes from our local farm shop so we are not used to it being frozen however this was a minor thing. The quality of the meat as a whole was excellent and we were all especially impressed with the flavour of the whole chicken.

The fruit and veg was equally well packed with a great message on the inside lid…. Enjoy! Included in our fruit and veg box was; a packet of Isle of Wight tomatoes, a punnet of mixed salad leaves, leeks, parsnips, carrots, apples, cauliflower, swede, a large bag of potatoes and a chicken roasting kit from Potts. I have to say the produce was all really fresh and I was particularly impressed with the quality of the salad, which is notoriously hard to transport and keep from bruising.

While the majority of the produce was UK grown (we were very impressed with the Isle of Wight tomatoes in April) some of the produce was not, specifically the apples.  Our favourite inclusion was the chicken roasting kit from Potts which is something we would never have normally bought but would absolutely buy again. It gave us a succulent and great flavoured chicken, plus the gravy and sauce in the pack were also really delicious.

Farmers Choice and Ocado go head to head

In terms of cost, we looked on Ocado to create a comparable shop (see above). This was not a strictly direct comparison as some of the weights of meat were not available, however we found that we saved around £8.00. This is great when you know that the added bonus of Farmers Choice is that you are supporting local farmers and arguably better quality produce.

Ultimately, saving money on your shopping is possible by using veg box schemes like Farmers Choice if you shop in a particular way. If you tend to stay away from processed foods and try to pick the organic option then you are really going to save loads of money. However, if you favour ready meals and convenience foods then this is where the supermarkets come into their own.

I think it is safe to say that we were very impressed with Farmers Choice and the slick service they offer. They have a wide variety of products and a great ethos of supplying British free-range meat and produce.

If you would like to visit their website and try them out yourselves visit www.farmerschoice.co.uk!

– Emily

Britain set to be the only leading economy to not make steel.

03_03032715_6a8f8e_2776782aIn the Victorian era, Britain was responsible for 40% of the global supply of steel. It may soon produce nearly none at all.

Should Tata sell off its sites in Scunthorpe or Port Talbot, following the closure of their Redcar plant last year, Britain would become the only member of the G7 no longer making steel.

British steelmaking has been in decline for more than a century. By the start of World War I our industry was overshadowed by the USA and was quickly followed by Germany.  By the 1980’s we produced less than 10 million tons, slipping below France, Italy and Belgium.  China is currently by far the biggest producer making 1.67 billion tons of steel, equal to about half of the worlds supply.

But it does beg the question, in a country fueled majoritively by financial services, whether a major industrial economy needs to produce steel at all?

The two sides of the story

It seems that there are two opinions regarding Britain’s need to produce steel.

It is clear that, for the foreseeable future, steel production in the UK is unprofitable. If we engage in a bailout, as many are calling for, we a likely locking both capital and labour into unproductive work. It could be tantamount to giving up on Capitalism all together.

However, as the British automotive industry is currently churning out 1.6 million new vehicles each year. The government has plans to produce, in the short-term, a new high speed rail network, invest Billions in the Trident nuclear program and build a new power station at Hinckley. All of these projects will require hundreds of tons of steel.

Although I read an article in The Sun this morning and it appears that it may never have been on The Governments agenda to use British steel in these projects in any event. It transpires that many of the large scale steel contracts, since the Conservative government took power, have been going abroad anyway thus reversing a previous ‘buy British’ policy for defense projects. (see the image right for details)

It would seem that our own government is conspiring against us fpr years and is, at least partly, responsible for the current situation.

In the sort-term the closure of the furnaces will affect the people in the communities whose welfare relies on them but in the long-term, it will lessen the integrated capabilities of the UK to do anything. The knock on effect could ultimately decimate Britain’s core manufacturing base.

Ultimately is seems essential that such a primary infrastructure, like steel, is protected in order that it can underpin our already stretched manufacturing sector.

In my humble opinion the only option is re-nationalisation but this option looks to be off the cards for this Government.

 

A new venture for Mrs B

Have you ever wanted to cure and smoke your own meat and fish? Well, if so then why not let Mrs B show you how.

Things have been pretty quiet for Mrs Bradshaw lately (with only a new baby to contend with) so she is making the leap into the unknown to begin something new and rather exciting.  She has, over the years, became rather adept at turning what we have into something tasty. In particular she has become exeptionally good at smoking and curing meat and fish. In our efforts to buy British this gives us some variety when most of the available products of this nature back are still imported from Europe.  Following the conclusion of our year buying only British some of our eating habits changed but this desire to cure and smoke meat, fish and cheese (and all sorts else) endured.

BBF_ROUNDAL_webAs a teacher by day, Emily’s passion for passing on knowledge is almost in-built. So, she has decided to begin courses in Kent to teach other people how to take great quality local produce and transform it into cured, smoked and dried delights with little more than the contents of their kitchen, and one or two bits from the shed.  The courses will be a one day beginner sessions to start with as an introduction to the basics, with no more than 6 cooks at a time joining her to make sure that everyone can ask all the questions they want and that everyone gets a hands on experience.

Italian meat platter - prosciutto ham, bresaola, pancetta, salami and parmesan

For more details of what the course entails please do have a look at her new website, rather aptly named www.britishfamilyfood.co.uk

Competition Time!!!!

If you hurry there is still the chance to win your place completely free on the course taking place on 22nd April simply by signing up to the website mailing list at www.britishfamilyfood.co.uk/subscribe

It is a scary thing to start something new but she is a great cook and an even better teacher, so if you love good food and want to know more join her and I know you won’t be disappointed. Please share the message with friends and family and help her to keep promoting local ingredients and great traditional preserving methods.

James

A normal British family’s view on the EU Referendum – a clear guide to the winners and losers following Brexit.

On 23rd June 2016, Britain will vote on whether to leave the European Union. Debate abounds as to the advantages of staying in the EU or choosing to ‘Brexit’, with many focusing on the financial advantages/disadvantages of either option. Having weighed up the options here is our view of things.

The death to the City?

City_of_LondonTo turn a phrase – news of the death of London has been greatly exaggerated. Whatever the decision come June it is clear that there will be both winners and losers, and the City of London, at least in the short-term, is likely to suffer if a split from Europe is decided. The City of London can be perhaps be considered the financial center of the EU and a Brexit is sure to weaken its domination to some extent but it is such a strong financial centre that is it would soon bounce back. And unlike other areas of the UK economy, such as manufacturing, the City is strong enough to take the pain. Ultimately, London does too much business with Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and the world in general, to lose out entirely to Paris or Frankfurt.

The truth is that effects of the anticipated, if modest, contraction of the City would still have a knock-on effect on the rest of the UK economy in the short-term but would likely offer opportunities to other areas of the UK.

London property bubble to burst

apartments_east_london_interiorcgiIf you own property in London, where house prices are vastly exaggerated over the rest of the country, you might expect to see a decline on your investment. Some analysts predict that your your city apartment might hemorrhage as much three quarters of it’s current value as the foreign investors move out.  Bad news for us some in the short-term but in an economy of wildly inflated, and frankly unsustainable, property prices it could offer a real lifeline for the younger generation. Sure the cash-cow property has been over the last 20 years would be put out for slaughter but it would enable Millennials working in London to buy houses at more reasonable prices and could make it a much more attractive commercial centre in the longer-term.

Pound Plunge

p14%20cash%20mf79The pound has fallen by 17% against the dollar over the past two years and would likely decline further if Britain were to leave the EU. The net result would likely mean a fall to around 1-to-1 against the U.S. dollar.

However, Britain runs a perpetual balance of payments deficit, so a lower pound would stimulate the British export industries. This is fantastic news for British manufacturing making us far more competitive than we have been in over 30 years.

Now being free to negotiate our own trade deals to the rest of the world we would certainly see a dramatic rise in production outside of financial services.

Scotland

scotlandThe Scottish independence referendum in 2014 was a vote in favour of staying in Britain, but only just. It is likely that, following a Brexit from Europe, there would be renewed insistence from Scotland to a further referendum to leave Britain with a view to them cementing alternative relations in Europe.

While this issue prompts further debate on the likelihood and effects of a split between Britain and Scotland, it does serve to complicate the current debate at hand.

Bye Bye Brussels Bureaucracy

EU_2359400bBeing in Europe costs us a around £55 million each and every day and this figure does not include huge amount in regulatory costs.

With those costs gone, taxes reduced, real estate costs slashed, and the exchange rate more competitive, Britain would be well-placed to compete with the Americas, the Far East, Middle East, and Africa – most of which are growing much faster than the EU.

Summary

Following Brexit there would obviously be short-term pain for all but if you take a longer-term view our future outside of the EU seems a lot brighter than in. In the long-term wealth would be spread more equally across all regions of the UK, rather than concentrated on Londoners and the very rich.

As we have said before, it is unlikely that big business would leave the UK in any meaningful way (despite what the papers currently say) and indeed, leaving the EU, might make us a better investment opportunity for other markets, like the USA.

In short, if you want to protect your short-term investment then staying in Europe seems like the option for you. If, however, you are prepared to take a longer-term, more altruistic view, then the 23rd June might be your opportunity to ‘get out of dodge’.

Whatever option you choose it is clear that it is a decision not to be taken lightly. As a nation we will never get this opportunity to shape the face of this country to such an extent again, so our advice is to go to the polls with a clear idea of what you are signing up for.

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