Review: Brill Cleaner

20150706_183057We are often given some weird and wonderful things to review and Brill Cleaner is both of these things. While we may not be a usual audience for a commercial cleaning solution, we are happy to put any British made product through it’s paces.

Brill cleaner is an economical, do all, budget cleaning product for businesses. It comes in a minimum 5ltr bottle but you can buy it online in quantities up to 500ltrs. What is more – this stuff is delivered in concentrate. Meaning that, depending on the application, you need to dilute it with water by as much as 20:1.  As you might imagine, the 5ltrs provided for us to review is likely to last a very long time in a domestic setting.

Brill seem pretty proud of the fact that create just one, no nonsense, product. It is sold in wonderfully no frills packaging, with literally no expense spent on design. Although, they do boldly announce that it is ‘England’s best cleaner’ in large type right on the bottle. They also claim that it can be used for just about any cleaning job, from windows to ovens.

Brill’s business model seem to be that all of their budget is best allocated to producing a top quality cleaner that is delivered at the best price point, at the cost of any finery. In fact they claim that 500ml of ready to use solution costs around 28p. If you consider that most supermarket brands roll in at around 10-20 times that cost there are some, not insignificant, saving to be had… but is it any good?

The short answer to this, you will be glad to know, is yes!  It works about as well as any brand of household cleaner I have ever used for all of the jobs we tested. This included using it to clean our rugs, James’ motorbike, a tiled floor, a wooden floor, our shower, our kitchen and more. Using this product does make me think about all of the money I might have wasted over the years on other branded products.Is it that we are all being taken in by the marketing???

Surprisingly, in having stood up to our rigorous testing,  Brill cleaner  contains no acid, ammonia or bleach. I am not sure what else it could contain but Brill also claim that it is also fully biodegradable. So, where is the catch?

Well, it is fair to say that Brill cleaner makes absolutely no attempt to hid the smell of whatever magical ingredients are within. It does not smell bad but it certainly does not smell like a pine meadow, apple blossom or whatever fragrance is in your usual domestic cleaner. It smells, perhaps unsurprisingly, like cleaning fluid. This might be enough to turn off some potential domestic users, but not us. I find the smell reassuring, almost an affirmation that I am actually getting something clean. However, thankfully, the odor does not tend to linger so I am happy to carry on using it until I finish the whole bottle… then buy some more.

– Emily

Editor's Rating
Quality
Value for Money
Functionality
Design
Satisfaction
Total British Family Rating68/100

Are robots the future of British manufacturing?

How automation currently looks in British factories.

Britain has the world’s sixth-largest economy but we barely breach the top 20 when it comes to utilising the power of robotics. Take Germany for example – their economy is 50% larger than ours yet they have 10 times as many robots within their manufacturing facilities.

The UK was once the world’s most powerful economy by some great margin. At the dawn of the industrial revolution our success was assured by our initial willingness to invest when it came to the automation of production. From Jethro Tull’s seed drill, the Spinning Jenny and the assembly lines at the Royal Dockyards such innovation in production dramatically increased Britain’s output far beyond its capacity.

So, why did we fall out of love for automation and is our distrust of roboticisation a root cause of the slow decline of British manufacturing?

There seems to be an inherent distrust of robotics in the UK lead partly by a romanticism of the handmade and a fear that it will render human workers redundant. In fact, as Ruari McCallion says in a recent article in The Manufacturer, ‘If the last 250 years have taught the world anything, it is that automation creates jobs – the “leverage factor” has been estimated at 2.5-3.5 – and builds wealth; improving productivity is essential to competitiveness.’

In industries where we struggle to compete price wise, such fashion, automation should be seen as the key to securing a long-term future for Britain. Yes, there will always be a market for the handmade but a much greater global market exists for competitively priced products. Take a walk down any height street in the UK and you will be lucky to find even 1% of clothing stocked that is made in the Britain. Perhaps it is now time to fill our factories with robots and get more British made goods out there.

One in six British vehicles now made in UK

NISSAN TO ADJUST SUNDERLAND OPERATIONS handout image

NISSAN’S SUNDERLAND OPERATIONS

Following the release of June’s car registration figures, it has been confirmed that nearly 14% of vehicles sold in Britain are now manufactured in the UK. That is one in six vehicles sold.

While there are a several luxury car makers in the UK, namely Jaguar, Lotus, Aston Martin and Bentley it is more mainstream brands that are having the biggest effect. The top ten best sellers include the Nissan Qashqai  (built in Sunderland) and Vauxhall Astra (built in Ellesmere Port). While other popular vehicles built in the UK include the Nissan Juke, Range Rover Evoque and Vauxhall Vivaro.

The automotive industry in the Britain is experiencing a real boom and now employs over 799,000 people across the UK.

Make sure your next car is British made!

Probably the best Paint Brush in the world… Lucas ProFinish

PROTOOLS-WEB-PROMO-1-5

What’s in the box?

I was kindly invited to the product launch of the Lucas Pro-Tools ProFinish paint brush back in December last year. It was a glittering affair at the McLaren factory and so certainly a memorable evening. I was also given a sample brush to try at the party and have been using it consistently for the past 7 months. This is the most field testing we have ever done for a review of a British made product.

The first thing to address is why is has taken me so long to produce this review. The issue is that the Lucas Pro-Tools paint brush is so damn expensive. At £60 each, I have to admit, I was struggling to justify the cost… but I think I now might be able to.

The first thing to note is that this brush is not really meant for enthusiastic amateur DIYers like me. It is a proper professional tool. My usual approach to paint brushes is as a disposable commodity. As such, if I spend £10 on a pack of 3 brushes I feel hard done by. So, I am really not the target market for this product and this is perhaps why I wrestled over the cost for so long.

brush

The Lucas after 7 months use

The last few months have given me plenty of opportunity to test the Lucas to the limits. I have built a conservatory, added a loft conversion, redecorated the kitchen and touched up the paint in just about every other room in the house.  The Lucas has been with me every step of the way and, while it is not looking as fresh as it once did, it is still as functional as when I opened the box.

The one thing I cannot quantify is how much of its current good form is down to the construction and how much is down to my reverence for it. I look after this brush better than any tool I have ever owned. Each brush comes with it’s own little comb which you are advised to run through your brush after every use. I diligently do just that, which actually makes cleaning far easier, and tuck it way in its supplied solid plastic cover.  I am sure that this routine goes a long way to preserving the brush but let’s not underestimate the part that the quality of construction play in all of this.

Lets make no bones about it, this is the best paint brush money can buy (or at least I have ever used). It applies paint evenly, cuts in perfectly and never leaves bristles behind. It is a genuine pleasure to hold in your hand and it feels rock solid.

With a pure beech handle and seamless aluminium ferrule (the bit holding the bristles in) the ProFinish comes in a beautiful presentation box complete with a comb, guard cover and instructions.

So, is it worth the money? I surprise myself in saying this but I think it might be. It is only after all these months of use that I now understand the value of a good quality paint brush. If you are going to use it once or twice a year then the investment in the Lucas is likely not going to be a good one but if you are a regular user, or indeed a professional, then I can see how this would start to pay for itself after a while.

Ultimately, painting is my least favourite DIY job. The fact that the ProFinish has made it significantly less painful is actually worth a lot to me.

Editor's Rating
Quality
Value for Money
Functionality
Design
Satisfaction
Total British Family Rating66/100

– James

Could this be the end of the British made AGA?

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Aga Rangemaster have been manufacturing their distinctive range of cookers in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, since the 1930’s but the brand itself has a history stretching to the early 19th century. However, they are currently in talks with US firm Middleby Corporation, a large US based kitchen equipment business, for a takeover which has the potential to put many British jobs in jeopardy.

The Aga has become a status symbol of the British middle classes, adorning kitchens across the UK from a trendy London flats to palatial country piles. While the share price has rocketed at the news of potential US investment, as we have seen before, what is often good short-term news for shareholders generally equates to bad long-term news for the hundreds of factory workers and the British manufacturing landscape generally. Are we right to be worried? Three years after steelmaker Corus was taken over by Indian behemoth Tata Steel, its complex at Redcar, on Teesside, was closed and during the takeover of Cadburys Kraft promised that the factory at Keynsham, near Bristol would be safe only to change their mind once the deal was done. This is just two examples of what so often happens when the decision making leaves Britain.

A staggering 90% of directors of purchased British firms are out of office within a year, basically leaving the new owners a free hand and, arguably, little sympathy for the local workers. Both the chairman and the chief executive of Cadbury were out within a few days of Kraft’s takeover and production moved out of the UK inside of 3 years.

In any case,  even if the manufacturing remains in the UK and the jobs are secured the profits of these once very British institutions, following the takeover, inevitably leave our shores.

Selling the family silver

According to Dealogic, a financial-information firm, foreigners have spent $1 trillion on acquiring 5,400 British companies in the past decade. We suspect that many Britons now aren’t so sure that they have got a good deal. Many hold a basic anxiety is that foreign ownership will mean factory closures and job losses. As head offices close, power shifts abroad and Britain risks becoming a “branch factory” economy.

In short, like most, we are fed up with our family silver being sold from underneath us!

The obvious long-term solution to this is to offer some regulation of certain key British businesses. Indeed some American states have such protection from foreign takeover of businesses that are key to their economy. However, Aga Rangemaster are now teetering on the brink of US takeover what can done at this now?

Take Action!!!

Our reader, Mike, (who alerted us this this issue) has already written to his MP but, based on our dealings with Government officials, we are sceptical that they will listen to a lone voice. We would welcome any suggestions for action that might be taken highlight this cause.

Not a Goodyear for UK tyre manufacturing.

GoodyearFactory_wolverhamptonUS owned tyre manufacturer Goodyear is planning to close its only UK factory costing the jobs of all 330 staff at the companies Wolverhampton plant.

While the plant itself is seemingly both productive and profitable Goodyear are intent on boosting profit further by reducing the costs associated with their European production. Union leaders are suggesting Goodyear have decided to close the British plant, instead of any other EU site, because UK workers “are cheaper and easier to fire than their European counterparts”. We cannot comment on how truthful this might be but, as if to rub salt into the wound, the workers only found out that they were soon to be unemployed when they were told by the local press.
So, it looks like Goodyear are set to leave these shores and will, in all likelihood, never return.
In spite of this setback, and the imminent bulldozing of the former Dunlop motorsport tyre factory we reported last week, you will be glad to know that there remains a number of tyre manufacturers still committed to the UK, namely Michelin, Cooper and Avon.

Fathers Day Competition Draw – Win a Raw Leather Wallet

wallee

Win Me!!!

To celebrate Fathers Day 2015 we are giving away two Raw Leather wallets worth over £35.00 each. One wallet will be sent to an existing subscriber to our blog as a thank you for your support and one winner will be selected from anyone that subscribes between now and 21st June.

>>>>>Click here to subscribe and enter<<<<<

As some of you know James makes handmade leather goods which he sells through Folksy (see here). The unique design of his two-tone leather wallet is one of his best sellers and is a solid and reliable staple, perfect for any Dad. Made from British leather, the wallet is entirely hand double stitched for strength and durability. Both the saddle tan exterior and the flash of ox blood on the inside are hand-dyed and as such every piece is totally individual. The wallet can hold up to 4 cards and a quantity of notes comfortably, while retaining a slim profile.

wallee3If you are already a subscriber to our blog…. THANK YOU! Your support gives us the energy to continue our efforts to help raise the profile of British manufacturing and farming and keeping skilled jobs in the UK. You will be automatically entered into the draw.

If you are looking to subscribe you will receive a notification whenever we add new content. We try to be topical, we try to be amusing and we try to add content that people will find useful. The more support we have the bigger impact we can have in promoting British industry.

>>>>>Click here to subscribe and enter<<<<<

– The Bradshaw Family

 

 

Have your say: Is this the great British Beer swindle?

doombarDid you know that Staffordshire is now in Cornwall? Well, this is what the US firm that own the Sharp’s brewery think when they bottle their best selling Doom Bar ale.

The BBC are reporting that the popular tipple Doom Bar, famous for being brewed in Rock, Cornwall is actually being produced in Burton-upon-Trent, over 250 miles away. All of this despite the message ‘Rock, Cornwall’ being emblazoned on the bottles in no less than 7 places.

Sharp’s, however, are quick to state that while bottled Doom Bar is indeed made in Stafford the majority, about 80%, is still produced in Rock.

Have your say:

Would you buy Doom Bar Beer made in Staffordshire but advertised as Cornish?

View Results

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The bulldozers move in on Birmingham’s Dunlop motorsport factory

The Dunlop Motorsport Factory in it's hayday

The Dunlop Motorsport Factory in it’s hayday

125 years of British manufacturing is to be demolished later this summer as the bull dozers move in on the Dunlop motorsport factory in Birmingham.

The factory supplied race teams with hundreds of specifications of car and motorcycle tyres, serviced by 20 trucks which travelled the world’s circuits throughout the sporting calendar.

The Castle Bromwich plant had been sold to Indian owned Jaguar Land Rover in 2013 which lead to its closure soon after, costing 300 local jobs. Production was ultimately transferred to Germany, France and elsewhere in Europe.

The closure, and destruction, of the factory brings to an end successful motorsport partnerships with the city, including supplying the famous Bentley Boys to five wins in the Le Mans 24-Hour race between 1924 and 1930 and winning eight championships in Formula One in the 1960s.

Dunlop also played a crucial role in the glamorous Land Speed Record battles between the war years when Sir Henry Segrave’s Golden Arrow vied with Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Bluebird and the American challengers.

Britain’s £9 billion motor sport industry will now have to depend on imported tyres from across the globe, no longer of the high quality produced by skilled Birmingham workers.

From Islay to Speyside – putting Scottish single malt whisky to the test

whiskeyI am a whisky fan, especially those from  Islay, the southern-most island of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. My bucket list certainly includes a distillery visit. So, imagine my joy at being offered a chance to sample and review 5 new whiskeys, including one from my favourite Islay distillery – Laphroaig.

As well and the much anticipated Laphroaig,  the samples I was sent included 2 new offerings from Macallan, one from Highland Park and the last from Ardmore.

NOTE: It is worth stating that I ‘sampled’ all of these fine single malts in one sitting and started off making quite sensible tasting notes. By the end my devout professionalism was thrown out of the window. So, basically I am writing this based on what is now a rather sketchy memory of my enjoyment of these very fine drams. However, I do recall enjoying every single one of them in their own way.

The_Macallan_Gold_luggageThe Macallan Gold

The Macallan Gold  is called because of it’s distinctive gilt hue and it is bottled to showcase the single malt’s natural colour.  This rather pleasant whiskey has notes of vanilla followed by dark chocolate, with lingering floral and light oak notes. I must admit that it is not my favourite of the bunch I tasted as I look for a real punch of peat from my whiskeys. This is available in multiple retailers including Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose (RRP £38.95).

The Macallan Amber

The Macallan Amber is a smooth and warming dram offering hints of toffee apple and cinnamon flavours and is notable for its startling amber colour. Again, this is a very fine whiskey but not quite for me. The Macallan Amber is available at specialist whisky retailers including The Whisky Shop (RRP £48.95).

HP Dark Origins pack 70cl HRHighland Park Dark Origins

The latest edition to Highland Park’s core range, Dark Origins offers a naturally dark, rich flavour with sherried spice, a chocolate twist and the signature sweet smoke. I was surprised to find that this was actually my favourite of those tasted. It does not fit the traditional profile I would go for but was really rather good.  Highland Park Dark Origins is available to purchase from specialist whisky retailers (RRP £65).

Select _bottle+caskLaphroaig Select

Laphroaig Select has the unique peaty character offered in all of Laphroaig’s whiskeys. The latest addition to the portfolio, Laphroaig Select, offers a deep, smoky taste yet surprises the palate with a gentle sweetness. I was most looking forward to this one and indeed it did not disappoint. However, I still find the 10 year old Laphroaig to be the best for me. Laphroaig Select is available in multiple retailers including Morrisons, The Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt (RRP £34.99).

The Ardmore Legacy bottle shotArdmore Legacy

The Ardmore Legacy is a great introduction to peated single malt whisky. With notes of creamy vanilla, followed by smoky charcoal and savoury spices with a pleasant smoky taste, The Ardmore Legacy is a full-bodied and smooth dram with a dry, spicy and long-lasting finish. I perhaps enjoyed this as much, if not more, than the Laphroaig. The Ardmore Legacy is available in multiple retailers including Tesco and Morrisons (RRP £29.99).

So there you have it. If there was ever proof that writing a blog had its perks – my 2 cents on some of the latest drams on the whisky market. Of course, with Fathers day just around the corner there are now a few more options open to you.

– James

 

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