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How easy is it to buy British at Christmas?: Here is a normal British family’s top 10 British made buys this season
How easy is it to buy British at Christmas? Many would say that Britain does not make anything anymore and that all of our usual fayre come the 25th of December is likely to have been imported. However, there is one British family, from Kent, who’s Christmas this year will be 100% British.
The Bradshaw family (James, Emily & son Lucan) have become well-known champions of British manufacturing and farming due to their much publisised exploits based around them living exclusively on British goods and services. During their first 12 months buying British they have long held a concern that they might have to do without during the coming festive season. They needn’t have been worried. They have found a great wealth of goodies and unique gifts, all made here in the UK, which they say will not only delight your family and friends on Christmas day but also help save the British economy along the way.
Here are the Bradshaw family’s recommended top 10 British made gifts for Christmas 2013:
No1. Thermapen – Union Jack
A dry turkey can ruin Christmas dinner so why take the risk? The Thermapen, available in many different colours and designs, is an ideal stocking filler for the budding chef in your family. They are simple to use but are a deceptively clever bit of kit that measures the internal temperature of all food (not just Turkey) instantly. This ensures that you are never left with over/under cooked dinners or baked goods ever again. From £57.60
No.2 Merrythought Christmas Master Mischief
Made in Shropshire since 1930, Merrythought famously makes beautiful bears of exceptional quality. This particularly festive bear is not just a perfect gift for a child but an heirloom that will be pasted down for generations. £154.00
No.3 Sockmine Cool Runners
If you insist on getting dad some socks again this year you may as well opt for the Sockmine Cool Runners. These 3rd generation sock manufacturers based in Nottinghamshire, engineer extreme footware designed for activities like cycling, hiking and running. You never know, a pair of these might inspire dad into working off the excesses of 2013 in the New Year. £10.00
No.4 Shakspeare glass baubles
If your Christmas tree is weighed down with gaudy plastic trinkets that look worse every year perhaps you could add a decoration or two from Will Shakspeare and his glass workshop down in Devon. His hand-blown glass baubles have more in common with fine art than the usual garden centre fodder and will continue to look great year on year. From £9.00
No.5 The Zoostorm SL8 Tablet
Buying British does not mean reverting back to Victorian-style gifts of yore. There is something even the most demanding gadget-lover. Last years’ gift of choice in the UK was the Chinese built Apple Ipad, this year try a British made Window 7 based Zoostorm tablet instead – featuring a 1366×768-pixel resolution screen, a hefty Intel Atom N450 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 32GB solid state hard drive, Wi-Fi and optional 3G. Price TBC
No. 6 Nyetimber
Nothing says “celebration” quite like a bottle of bubbly, but did you know that England produces some of the best sparkling wines in the world right now? In fact many English brands are trouncing the French at international taste awards and one such brand is Nyetimber. Available in most supermarkets Nyetimber’s fantastic sparkling wine is competitively priced and guaranteed to start your Christmas with a bang. From £28.00
No.7 Blank Game
Once the turkey has been eaten, the last cracker pulled and the Queen’s speech has come to a patriotic close what else is there to do but reach for the board games. It is at this point when you will be glad that you stuffed a copy of the British designed (and British made) game Blank into Grannies stocking this year. Blank is an innovative new word game that takes place on a track (rather than a traditional board) and is suitable for all ages. So, forget Scrabble or Trivial Pursuits this Christmas day and try a British made alternative. £29.99
No.8 Unique Kids dressing gown
You know that the kids are going to be up well before the central heating kicks in on Christmas morning, so perhaps the first prezzie you give them to unwrap is a Unique Kids dressing gown. As well as fleece gowns Unique Kids produce a range of fleece hats, gloves, scarves, jumpers and even onesies in their factory in North Wales. What is more they are all fantastically well priced. £19.99
No.9 Gruffalo Trunki
If it is a white Christmas this year the elation felt is likely to be short-lived as the incessant sludge and train delays hit just as it is time to go back to the office. Your thoughts, no doubt, will soon wander onto escaping with your family to warmer climes . The Trunki is not only a ride on toy that will provide fun on Christmas day but is also a child-size suitcase perfect for catching some last minute winter sun. You might have seen these successfully secure funding on the Dragon’s Den program a few years back. In the subsequent years following the program Trunki’s were being manufactured in the Far East, now manufacturing has returned to good-old blighty. £39.99
No. 10 Media Box touch
It might be argued that this British made device does not have the same cool-factor as other MP3/MP4 players on the market, when it comes to presenting this to your teenage son on Christmas day. However it really is a fantastic choice for any real music aficionado. The Media Box Touch is a touch screen media player offering all of the expected features but uniquely boasts over 18 hours continuous play for video, and even longer for audio files, typically over 30 hours. Now, that is enough staying power to last Christmas day, and well into the New Year, on just one charge. From £58.99
The Bradshaw family is certainly looking forward to their truly British Christmas this year full of British food, drink and gifts that are set to make it the best Christmas ever.
It looks like MCH Media who manufactured the Media Box Touch, are no longer with us.
Cant find them anywhere.
Nope – here they are http://www.mchmedia.co.uk/
I found that site pretty quickly but everything is out of stock, there are no reviews after 2010 and I have emailed them a couple of times with no reply.
I also checked out Dudil and it looks like they ceased trading around 2010ish.
Its real shame if that’s the case as those products look great.
I would have had one at xmas for certain.
I don’t believe it!! It looks like you might be right. I think this deserves some investigation.
Please can you put the hyperlinks on the names of the products for ease of ordering them James
Good idea! If I get 5 I will do just that.
Many thanks to the Bradshaws for including us on the “Top 10 British made Christmas Buys” list. We are delighted to say we are spending the whole weekend processing orders! The link to buy our word game is at http://www.fiendishlyfabulous.com/shop.html. Once again, thank you!
happy we can help 😉
There really is a fabulous market for British made goods if only manufacturers would advertise their wares.
If you are looking for a great gift for a Lego loving child then take a look at our Lego storage invention BOX4BLOX. We are a Kiwi based company, but we manufacture our product in Wales and sell it exclusively online via our web site http://www.box4blox.com, in conjunction with Amazon.co.uk. If you want to add this to your list please contact us
The video says it is manufactured in the USA??
Yes, I realise that the video says “Made in USA”, but I can assure you that the BOX4BLOX is made in Wales, in the UK. We also make it in the USA and just ship our plastic injection moulds between the two manufacturers in each country. We are currently in process of changing our web site and videos to suit both markets, as well as adding pages targeting customers in the EU, to where Amazon FBA also ship orders over GBP25.00 for free from their UK fulfilment centres.