Make it British Podcast

Latest Episodes:

076 – Jack Millington, Billy Tannery – Setting Up the UK’s Only Goat Tannery Aug 06, 2019

Show notes

Billy Tannery is the first new goat leather company and tannery in the UK for over 50 years. Despite knowing nothing about leather production when they started, Jack Millington and his co-founder Rory Harker set up their micro tannery in 2016 after discovering the terrible waste of goatskins that are a bi-product of the meat industry. They use the goatskins to make their own leathergoods products for their Billy Tannery brand, as well as for collaborations with other British companies such as Crown Northampton. In this interview Jack talks all about the complexities of setting up the UK's only goat tannery. Discover:

How Billy Tannery came about
The processes involved in tanning goat skin
The difference between the types of leathers from different animals and which is more sustainable
What kid skin is!
How support from others in the UK leather industry has helped them to launch the brand
The collaborations they have planned going forward
Advice he'd give to others thinking of launching a brand made in the UK

About Billy Tannery

Billy Tannery on Instagram

Shownotes for this episode: www.makeitbritish.co.uk/076 More Make it British

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075 Live! – Paul Alger MBE, UKFT Jul 30, 2019

Show notes

Made Here, Sold Everywhere The UK imports considerably more fashion and textiles than it exports. But the UK Fashion & Textile Association are aiming to address that. Paul Alger is Director of International Business at the UKFT. Over the last 30 years Paul has helped thousands of fashion and textile designers and brands to export their products. He was recently awarded an MBE for his services to exports in the UK fashion industry. In this talk, which Paul gave at Make it British Live!, he covers everything you need to know about exporting your British-made brand, including:

Who are the champions of UK manufacturing?
Which countries want to buy made in UK products and why?
Why should a British-brand export?
What appeals to overseas buyers when it comes to buying fashion and textiles made in the UK?
What are the pitfalls to avoid?

If you want to learn how to export with success then Paul Alger is the go-to person to help you. More about UKFT Shownotes and slides from Paul's presentation can be found at www.makeitbritish.co.uk/075

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074 Live! – Simon Middleton, Blackshore Clothing Jul 23, 2019

Show notes

The Truth About Branding...it's not about a logo and it's not about generating content

Simon Middleton has had a parallel career for the last decade, as a brand strategy adviser, speaker, and author of books including the bestseller Build A Brand In 30 Days.

He is also an award-winning manufacturer and creator of made-in-Britain menswear brands Shackleton and now Blackshore Clothing.

In 2019 Simon was voted No.13 in the World Top 30 Branding Professionals and appears regularly on national media commenting on brand topics.

Simon is a master of storytelling, and in this talk, which he presented at Make it British Live!, Simon explains what building a brand really means...and it might not be what you think!

More about Blackshore Clothing

More about Simon Middleton

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073 – Why UK Manufacturing is Underestimated Jul 19, 2019

Show notes

Government figures say that manufacturing is only worth 9% to the UK economy - is this correct?

A report by Cambridge University says that the Government has got it wrong when it comes to calculating the value of manufacturing to the UK economy.

What is causing the error?

And how should they be working it out?

Shownotes: www.makeitbritish.co.uk/073

Cambridge University Report

Craft's Council 'Measuring the Craft Economy'

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072 Live! – Tom Glover, Peregrine – 100% Made in England Jul 16, 2019

Show notes

Tom Glover is from a family manufacturing business originally founded in Wigston in Leicester in 1796. He graduated with a degree in product design, and used his design skills to create the Peregrine clothing brand. He knew that the way forward for the family knitwear manufacturing business was to not have to rely on orders from other brands, but instead create their own. Within 10 years of creating Peregrine the brand was stocked in over 100 well-known retailers around the world. Discover:

How Tom has grown the Peregrine brand using the knowledge that his family had gained from centuries of manufacturing
How he makes the 100% made in England brand affordable
Why he recently invested in a knitwear factory in Manchester.
What he sees the future holding for UK garment manufacturing.

This podcast is part of a series of talks which took place at Make it British Live! 2019. More about Peregrine

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071 – The One Thing Holding UK Manufacturing Back Jul 12, 2019

Show notes

This week I was at the Houses of Parliament for a meeting with the All Party Parliamentary Group for textiles and fashion to discuss the issue of the lack of skilled garment machinists in the UK.

The meeting was organised by Tamara Cincik of Fashion Roundtable, who is the secretariat for the group.

There were several UK garment manufacturers in the room, along with representatives from the British Retail Consortium and The UK in a Changing Europe - an independent research body that gives advice on all of the possible outcomes with Brexit.

The reason that we were all there was to ask the Government with help to ease the issue of the lack of skilled garment workers in the UK, and to impress upon them WHY this is important

The UK textile industry is worth over £9bn to the economy currently - but it could double if supply could keep up with demand. The only thing holding it back is the lack of staff.

If you care about the lack of skills in UK garment manufacturing, there are a couple of things that you can do:

Write to your local MP and state you case as to why you think garment machinists and textile workers should be put on the shortage occupation list.
Complete the APPG survey if you are a manufacturer, or pass it on to any manufacturers that you know, who employ garment machinists.

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British Brand Accelerator - Find out how you can work with me to build your British-made brand

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Join Make it British - become a member of our community and promote your business in our directory or UK-made brands and manufacturers

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070 Live! – Barbara Burton, Behind Bras Jul 09, 2019

Show notes

There are around 3,800 women in UK prisons at any one time and only one in ten are able to get a job when they leave.

It costs £46,000 a year to put women in prison in the UK - why not put this money to good use by training them essential skills while they are there?

Barbara Burton is a woman on a mission to do something about this. Her business, Behind Bras, which she wrote the business plan for whilst in prison herself, aims to teach women sewing skills to help them work in fashion manufacturing when they leave prison.

In this heartfelt story, which Barbara told at Make it British Live!, she goes into detail about how Behind Bras came about.

Behind Bras

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069 Live! – Small Batch Manufacturing Jul 05, 2019

Show notes

What's the best way of successfully manufacturing small quantities in the UK?

In this episode, recorded at Make it British Live!, UK garment and textile manufacturers discuss how designers can work with UK manufacturers.

Panellists are:

David Williams (Stoll GB & Knit Design Centre) Diana Kakkar (MAES London) Adam Robertson (Kalopsia Collective)

This episode was recorded at Make it British Live! This podcast is part of a series of talks which took place at Make it British Live! 2019. Shownotes: makeitbritish.co.uk/069

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068 Live! – HebTroCo, How to Make a Million in Brexit Britain Jul 02, 2019

Show notes

Brant Richards and Ed Oxley tell the story of how they launched British menswear brand HebTroCo.

In this audio recording of the talk they did at Make it British Live! 2019, Brant and Ed recount the tale of how an idea in the pub turned into a million pound business in just 3 years.

Hear how they:

Launched with a Kickstarter campaign that sold 176 pairs of trousers in just 6 hours
Used Facebook advertising to reach their target audience
Made storytelling integral to everything they do
Opened a shop to support their online business
Use local suppliers wherever possible, and how they found them

Shownotes and slides: www.makeitbritish.co.uk/068

More about HebTroCo

This podcast episode is part of a series of talks which took place at Make it British Live! 2019.

Subscribe to this podcast – and support UK manufacturing!

Stay in Touch

British Brand Accelerator - Find out how you can work with me to build your British-made brand

Make it British website

Join Make it British - become a member of our community and promote your business in our directory or UK-made brands and manufacturers

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Make it British on YouTube - subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch many of the podcast episodes as videos.

067 Live! – Craftsmanship versus Technology Jun 28, 2019

Show notes

How can technology help UK textile manufacturing become more viable?

Our panellists discuss what innovations and technology are helping make UK textile manufacturing relevant for the 21st Century.

Panellists are:

Nick Keyte (Gieves & Hawkes)

Professor Steven Russell (Future Fashion Factory)

Mark Randle (Galaxius Systems)

Andy Ogden (English Fine Cottons)

This episode was recorded at Make it British Live! Some of the points discussed: – What technology is being used to make UK textile manufacturing more efficient – The importance of craftsmanship and skills – What modern garment manufacturing is (and isn't) – How we can attract more young people into the industry This podcast is part of a series of talks which took place at Make it British Live! 2019. For shownotes and images for this episode got to www.makeitbritish.co.uk/067

Subscribe to this podcast – and support UK manufacturing!

Stay in Touch

British Brand Accelerator - Find out how you can work with me to build your British-made brand

Make it British website

Join Make it British - become a member of our community and promote your business in our directory or UK-made brands and manufacturers

Make it British on Instagram

Make it British on YouTube - subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch many of the podcast episodes as videos.