As followers of our blog will know, we were asked to be one of the judges for the first UK manufacturing awards organised by RH Nuttall, themselves a proud British manufacturer. Our nominations were: Ebac Ltd, Mr Singhs and Sockmine. Ultimately, despite our calls for a recount and accusations of a rigged ballot, non of our nominations won in the end. So who has been deemed the UK’s best manufacturer?

In the end Essex based turntable manufacturer Rega took home the gong and, beyond our mock protestations, are very worth winners.

Rega, was started in the early 1970’s by two friends and music enthusiasts who made their first turntables in their bedrooms. 40 years later they have grown into market-leaders in turntable innovation and are still spinning stronger than ever. Theirs is an industry that many might have predicted would enter free-fall with the advert of CD’s and the final death blow might once again have been foretold shortly before the advert of music downloads. However, they have ridden the waves of what is ‘cool’ by steadfastly sticking to what they do best – building innovative music gear in the UK. They are now reaping the rewards of the recent revival of vinyl. You could say they have truly turned-the-table [groan] on the neigh-sayers.

If you are now tempted, like we are, to bring your old 12″‘s down from the loft, dust them off and party like it is 1979 then you will not go far wrong by investing in a Rega. Like vinyl, they seem to be here to stay.

Well done Rega! A well deserved win for one of British manufacturings stalwarts.

I am worried that this might be the second politically themed blog in as many weeks. Guido Fawkes we are not, but here goes…

So, The Guardian has spent 10 years and close to half a million of tax payers money disclosing a series of letters between Prince Charles and Tony Blair sent between 2004-2005 and the only real expose is how poor his handwriting is. Indeed, I would have hoped, given the best education that money can buy, that his longhand might have been a little neater but it is now clear that all the effort to publish the letters was not worth all the fuss. I suspect this was not the scoop the journalists had been rubbing their hands over all these years.

What actually come across in the letters is how ‘in-touch’ he is and how much he genuinely seems to care about certain issues, particularly around the state of British farming. He was certainly before his time in warning of Britain’s lack of self-sufficiency and his concern about the power of the supermarkets- matters that have, in recent years, come to prominence through various campaigns by the NFU. I could not help but feel, when reading the letters, that if any of the actual politicians cared as much there might be a little bit more optimism around at the moment. In short Charley came across as one of the good guys. Royalist or not, I think that cannot be denied.

Of course there is mild controversy for his avocation of the badger cull but who could not have predicted his view on that issue?!. He is himself a farmer and all farmers advocate culling.

Perhaps the massive spend in legal fees and the time taken to get these letters in the public domain was worth it after all. British farming can now be sure they have a tireless campaigner and lobbyist on their side who does not crave publicity for his efforts. We should all take some comfort in that.

– James

If you miss our usual eclectic mix of British made product reviews, recipe ideas using British ingredients and general adventures across the UK – We promise that normal service will now be resumed.

The doors of politics have recently been blown wide open and, according to the Daily Mail, 40% of voters are still undecided. Old, or deep seated ties, that may have crossed generations have, by many, been scrutinised and set aside like no other election before it. There is a general feeling that the publics appetite for the party politics of old has dwindled leading to, what would have previously been considered more marginal parties, hold far more power. All of this has left us, a distinctly normal British family, in a real dilemma of who should receive our vote.

We have almost staunchly shied away from discussing politics in our blog. The reason for this is that we did not want for our message, of supporting British manufacturing and farming, to become tied to one party. This would simply polarise our audience and dilute our general message of celebration. However, we have had a number of opportunities to meet, or have other contact with, politicians over recent years. I would say that these interactions have always left us disappointed and with little faith in intentions of those particular individuals.

Our blog is about British manufacturing. So what do the main parties say about what they will do to increase British production and promote it abroad? Well, as far as we can see – very little. We looked. Although we will admit to not having the will to read each party manifesto cover to cover, as you might imagine. If we are wrong on this please do comment below.

So where does this leave us on 7th May? We will be frank with you – we don’t now. We are left weighing up the pros and cons of each party:

The Conservatives
Historically, we have been a conservative household. What we can say for sure is that this has changed. For us, their willingness to sell off Britain’s assets to private companies is a real turn off. Recently they agreed the privatisation of Royal Mail (losing a shedload of our money in doing so) and are continuously chipping away at the NHS. The two remaining institutions that we should hold in absolute reverence in this country are the NHS and the BBC but we cannot help but feel that these would be in danger in Conservative hands.

Labour 
Milliband is an option. Although it has to be said that we still smart from the deceit of the Tony Blair’s  administration. Their policies regarding rising taxation for the countries richest seem to be entirely logical though. Labour do mention creating a ‘world leading’ farming and fisheries program which seems a little woolly but they are saying sort of the right things as far as supporting our farming industry is concerned.

Liberal Democrats
The Lib Dem’s appeared decidedly gutless in the recent coalition and are sure to get a hammering in the polls this year. We do like the concept of raising extra funds by having increased taxation on banking though. Generally, they have some sensible policies but we cannot help be feel that they are a party in decline.

Ukip
UKIP are an odd one. Nigel Farrage is, in many ways, the most appealing character of all of the main parties. Looking through all of the guff about them, their policies actually seem quite ‘sensible’. Although there stance immigration has been accused of smacking of racism, they simply seem to mirror those employed (and lauded) in Australia. Their policy on significantly cutting foreign aid is perhaps a little concerning. It seems logical to continue to help the worlds poorest as much as you can afford to. However, central to their manifesto is pushing for an EU referendum. We are a little concerned by the impact that this might have on the foreign manufacturers that currently have sites in the UK, especially automotive. However, it is never a bad thing to let the people decide… after all that is democracy right?

The Green Party
We actually like a number of The Greens key priorities; ending privatisation of the NHS, taking back public ownership of the railways and protecting the green belt are all positions that are attractive to us. However, their open-door policies in immigration do concern us. It perhaps swings too far the other way. Also, following the recent TV debates we are not sure that Natalie Bennett would be a particularly convincing PM.

Following the all party TV debates we were, like many, most impressed with Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP. This was a real surprise as we held a deep dislike of their former leader Alex Salmond. We could not help be feel that she was genuine and something really different in todays political arena. If it were not for her parties commitment to tearing Great Britain apart and the fact that, being in England, we could not vote for even if we wanted to, she might have been a real option.

So there we have it – a run down of our thoughts leading up to the 7th of May. Still undecided.

Of course we will vote for someone. It is clearly important that we all exercise this right. Will we tell you afterwards who we voted for?… nope! Despite this rather unusual (but frankly important) post from us, our message is still not about politics but about enjoying what we make in the UK.

We mentioned in an earlier post that we had been asked to judge the UK manufacturing awards, set up by gasket maker RH Nuttall. Well, after much consideration our nominations are in.

It was harder than we imagined but in the end we decided on Ebac Ltd, Mr Singh’s Sauce and Sockmine (Roy Lowe & Sons Ltd).

Ebac Ltd are a bit of an obvious choice. They are committed to UK manufacturing and continue to push the boundaries of what is made here. They have recently launched the only washing machine to be made in the UK and revived the Norfrost brand of freezers. In our view they have likely got this competition all sewn up.

Mr Singh’s is a family fun business and manufacture hot sauces (which are fantastic BTW) and since winning investment have gone from strength to strength. They have begun exporting abroad and have an enviable commitment to quality. We keep saying this, but they are also the nicest people you will meet. If for no other reason than being ‘good people’ they deserve recognition.

Sockmine are a brand owned by Roy Lowe & Sons UK manufacturer of socks. They are produce socks in varying styles but their sports socks are the best we have found. They are great example of a solid business producing a simple product but doing it very well.

So there you have it – our 2 cents of who we admire in UK manufacturing. It is interesting to note that some of the companies we considered but did not choose have also been nominated by the other judges….. namely, Netherton Foundry and Numatic.

The next step is choosing the winner.

While most big sauce companies are moving the moving their production abroad (Heinz, HP ect..) there is one company that are committed to making their sauces and ketchups in the UK. The Great British Sauce Company first launched at our first British Family Fayre in 2013 and have since gone on to be stocked in many national supermarket chains and win fans across the country. They are a great company, run by great people that produce a exceptional product… and they need your help!

GB Sauce are in with a chance to pitch their brand to Sir Richard Branson in a bid to win a fully funded £250,000 advertising campaign. Winning an opportunity like this will allow them to take on the big boys and become what they truly deserve – a well known national brand.

How can you help?
They have got through the first round of the process but their pitch now needs public votes in order the get Sir Richards attention. Could you please take the time to vote using the following link:

http://www.virginmediabusiness.co.uk/pitch-to-rich/grow/great-british-sauce-company-limited/

Voting closes on the 5th May 2015, so you need to be quick. If they get into the top 50 they make it through to the final intensive pitch round and we will keep you updated on their progress.

Get voting!!!!

As an aside: If they win the money we might see if we can persuade them to use us in their adverts? 😉

We are delighted to have been asked to be judges for this years UK manufacturing awards organised by RH Nuttall, a British manufacturer themselves. Joining us on the panel are a number of old friends of ours and we are pleased to be in the company of some very passionate advocates of British makers.

Help us out-

We now have three weeks to select three manufacturers, big or small, who deserve specific credit for their contribution to UK manufacturing. If you have any ideas about who you would choose please comment below (it might just influence our decision). 

The overall winner will be announced on the 5th May.

RH Nuttall are a maker of washers, gaskets and seals. For most this is not the most glamorous sector of UK manufacturing but non could deny it’s importance. Anyone that knows the pain of a blown gasket in their car would understand how this relatively inexpensive part, if not of sufficient quality, can lead to very costly repair bills.

For more details about the awards and the process please see here: http://rhnuttall.co.uk/manufacturing-awards/

Other judges include:

Tony Boylan, from Still Made in Britain, who runs a rather excellent directory of British made stuff.

John Palaguta-Iles who is the founder of Made Closer, web-store for those wanting to source their purchase closer to home.

Anthony Gilsenan from British Made for Quality, which is a not-for-profit membership organisation for British manufacturers that campaigns on behalf of it’s members.

We understand that there are still judges yet to be confirmed but each of those mentioned are deeply knowledgeable of the UK manufacturing sector. I am excited to see who we all think are the best manufacturers in the UK.

Honda has just announced that it is investing over £200 million in a new Civic model and best of all it will be made at the car manufacturer’s plant in Swindon.

There are currently over 3,000 people employed at the factory, building the Civic, Jazz and CR-V for the UK and European markets, and it is expected to increase production to around 120,000 cars a year.

However, the news comes almost a year to the day that Honda announced that it would be closing parts of the production at Swindon at a cost of around 500 jobs. While it is great news that this latest announcement secures more jobs in the area I can only imagine, give the turbulent history, that workers are wondering how long the good news will last. It is all well and good giving people jobs but Honda need to commit to giving their workers long-term futures too.

So for the time being the news from Honda is positive. Let’s just hope that it continues.

Last week the rather grand headquarters of the Institution of Civil Engineers at one Great George Street in London played host to The Great British Family Business Event 2015. I was invited by the organiser and founder of Family Businesses United, Paul Andrew. Paul is extremely passionate about British business and an all-round nice chap. However, beyond the palatial surrounding and generosity of my host I was there to hear 3 icons of British manufacturing speaking as part of the days schedule.

The event is all about businesses run by families in the UK. Indeed, there is a great tradition of British businesses being founded, run and managed by families. Companies like JCB, J Sainsbury and Associated British Foods are all multi-billion pound businesses run by families. In general the quality of the speakers was high but, for obvious reasons, I was there to hear what the manufacturers had to say. Adrian Maxwell – Managing Director of Fracino, Christopher Nieper – Managing Director of David Nieper and Robin Skailes – Director of Cropwell Bishop Creamery were on the bill to discuss what running a British manufacturing business, with their families, means to them.

Fracino are one the the largest manufacturers of commercial coffee machines in the world but I was interested to hear of their humble beginnings. Started by Adrian’s father, Frank, in the early 1960’s the company name is a rather sweet amalgam of his fathers name and cappuccino. Frank bought an old coffee machine while on holiday in Italy and stripped it down in his shed. A year later he launched the businesses from that same shed. Some 50 years later they now have a 50,000 sq ft factory in Birmingham and ironically export back to Italy.

David Nieper have been manufacturing luxury women’s clothing and nightwear in Derbyshire for more than 50 years and are one of the biggest names in the UK garment industry. Christopher himself seems like quite a character – he explained that they try to do as much in-house as possible… they even print all of their catalogues themselves.

Cropwell Bishop are a Nottinghamshire based cheese manufacturer famous for  producing a punchy, creamy and thoroughly delicious stilton. The Cropwell Bishop stilton, thanks to the efforts of Robin and his family, has gained Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status and so can only be produced in specific areas of the Midlands.

The question of what made in Britain means to them was posed to all 3 speakers and the response was unanimous. Each, in turn, stressed the importance and pride they place on making their products in the UK. Every Facino coffee machine bears a Union Flag, the Nieper family believe that it is a unique selling point for their products internationally and the guys at Cropwell Bishop believe their cheeses cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world.

All in all it was a terrific event.

– James