Make it British Podcast

288 – Why You Should Visit Your Factory Mar 01, 2024

Show notes

This week I’ve been in the Midlands visiting factories, which is always one of my favourite things to do.

I’d planned to take my podcast mic with me and get an episode to you today with an interview with one of the manufacturers, but sadly I was in such a rush when I set off early Sunday morning that I left my mic behind!

So on today’s episode instead I'm discussing one of the amazing factories I went to see, and also sharing a recording from the archives - which is to encourage you to get out there and visit factories yourself!

Mentioned in this episode:

287 – How To Sell Your Products Feb 23, 2024

Show notes

Today's episode is all about selling and sales, and how it's closely linked to product development.

A lot of creative business owners say that they aren't any good at selling, so the natural tendency is to drop their prices or default back to making more products.

I'm going to give you a different way of looking at sales, so that selling doesn't make you feel like a used car salesman.

Mentioned in this episode:

286 – 21 Tips for Building a Great British Brand Feb 16, 2024

Show notes

Hear from 21 business founders as they give their tips on starting and growing a British-made brand.

These snippets were taken from 21 different guest interviews on this podcast.

If you want to listen to the full episodes you can find them as follows:

Ep.142 Julie Deane, Cambridge Satchel Company

Ep.076 Jack Millington, Billy Tannery

Ep.143 Kath Whitworth, Celtic & Co

Ep. 41 Paul Smithers, Halycon Blue

Ep 179 Rebecca J Mills

Ep 171 Rich Keegan & Linda Souto Maior, Usual Objections

Ep 23 Sian Reekie, Hettie Co

Ep 78 Katie Walker Furniture

Ep 27 Matt Booth, Both Barrells

Ep 139 Rachael Attwood, Britannical

Ep 108 Steff McGrath, Something Wicked

Ep 82 Joel, Chudleigh, Made to Last

Ep 96 Richard Ince, James Ince & Sons Umbrellas

Ep 120 Emma Willis

Ep 39 Genevieve Sweeney

Ep 129 Samanth Brooke, Waring Brooke

Ep 88 Chris Woodford, Crown Northampton

Ep 141 Emma Mathews, Socko

Ep 153 Gillian Tusting, Tusting

Ep 86 Pippa Dziubinski, The Little Art Collection

Ep 183 Brant Richards, HebTroCo

Here you will find a list of all of the episodes of this podcast, which you can filter by guest, subject and topic

So I hope that has inspired you to make in the UK if you aren’t already!

If you'd like to launch or grow a British-made brand, I'm here to help. Reach out to me via Instagram DM @makeitbritish or drop me an email and I will get back to you with ways that I can help.

HANDY LINKS

Mentioned in this episode:

285 – I Never Looked at Manufacturing Anywhere Else with Catherine Bedford, Dashel Cycle Helmets Feb 09, 2024

Show notes

On today’s episode I’m chatting with Catherine Bedford, founder of Dashel Cycle Helmets

Catherine had the idea for an innovative and stylish cycle helmet whilst watching the London 2012 Olympics. She set about creating her vision, and it took 5 years to develop and launch the Dashel helmet. All Dashel helmets are made in the UK, and in this episode Catherine talks about:

How she set about developing a new and innovative product.
How she found factories to then make the helmets
Some of the safety testing that bike helmets have to go through.
How she got PR and found stockists when she first launched.
How she got her first stockists.
And how the bike industry has been affected by Brexit.

Mentioned in this episode:

United Repair Centre Website

284 – Repair Is The New Cool with Thami Schweichler, United Repair Centre Feb 02, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to Episode no.284!

Circularity is the buzzword on everyone's lips right now. It's no wonder, when you hear that 350,000 tonnes of clothing goes to landfill in the UK every year. Something needs to be done to stop the mass-consumption that the UK in particularly seems to be pretty bad at!

The United Repair Centre, a collaboration between outdoor brand Patagonia, social enterprise Makers Unite, and the Amsterdam Economic Board, is a much needed resource for the clothing industry. And they've opened one up in London!

On this episode I chat with one of the United Repair Centre co-founders, Thami Schweichler.

We chat about how the URC repair process has combined technology with sewing skills to make repair and circularity available to all, and how any brand can get involved in offering a repair service to their customers.

ABOUT UNITED REPAIR CENTRE

United Repair Centre Instagram

Thami Schweichler Linkedin

HANDY LINKS

British Brand Accelerator - My mentoring programme

Kate's Sunday Journal - My newsletter

Mentioned in this episode:

283 – Tackling Textile Waste as a Slow Fashion Designer with Lydia Bolton Jan 26, 2024

Show notes

Today's guest is Lydia Bolton, a slow fashion designer tackling textile waste by upcycling unwanted fabrics and garments and turning them into one-off pieces.

As well as having her own label, Lydia also teaches others how to upcycle with workshops that she runs and in her partnerships with big brands such as Lidl, Nike, Adidas and Lime bikes.

We chat about:

How Lydia started out in fashion and textiles and where she learnt to sew.
The challenges of upcycling and making one-off pieces.
Where she sources her raw materials from and how deadstock can be a misleading term.
Her decision to only rent and not sell her garments going forward.
How she collaborates with big brands to spread the word about upcycling.
How she is teaching people to sew with her upcycling workshops.

ABOUT LYDIA BOLTON

Lydia's Website

Lydia on Instagram

HANDY LINKS

FAQ: Where’s The Best Place To Source Fabrics? Jan 19, 2024

Show notes

How to find fabrics, leathers and other raw materials for your brand, and avoid the most common mistake that many people make when sourcing fabric.

FURTHER RESOURCES

UK Fabric Mills on the Make it British website

HANDY LINKS

Quiz: Are you ready to work with a UK factory?

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FAQ: How Many Factories Should I Sample WIth? Jan 18, 2024

Show notes

Sampling with UK manufacturers can be quite a different ball game to sampling with manufacturers overseas. Here's why you might not want to sample with lots of different factories.

FURTHER RESOURCES

HANDY LINKS