Fashion & Beauty
**Make it British Podcast**

Kate Hills is on a one-woman mission to save UK manufacturing.
In this podcast she shines the light on British brands and manufacturers, and goes behind the scenes of their businesses.
With tips, hints and tricks to help you manufacture in the UK and buy British.
Never has there been a more critical time to get behind ‘made in Britain’.

Latest Episodes:

260 – 5 Hidden Manufacturing Costs and How to Avoid Them May 05, 2023

Show notes

In this episode I discuss some of the hidden costs of manufacturing, and offer tips on how to avoid them.

Whether you're starting a new brand, or growing an existing one, there's typically five common areas where costs can spiral out of control, but the good thing is, they are all easily avoidable.

Topics covered in this episode:

The five hidden costs in UK manufacturing and how to avoid them
How you can minimise sample costs
Why it's easy to overspend on raw materials
How to avoid buying too much stock
Why making in the UK eliminates some of your logistics costs

Resources mentioned in this episode

25 Hidden Costs of Starting a Brand

Enjoyed this podcast? I also have a private podcast called ‘British Brand Bedrock’.

The British Brand Bedrock private podcast feed answers more than 30 of your most commonly asked questions on starting and growing a British-made Brand.

Subscribe to British Brand Bedrock podcast here

Stay in Touch

British Brand Accelerator – My group programme for small businesses who want to manufacture clothing, accessories and homeware in the UK.

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.

Mentioned in this episode:

British Brand Accelerator

259 - The Impact of Brexit on Small Businesses in the UK Textile Industry - Tamara Cincik, Fashion Roundtable Apr 28, 2023

Show notes

In this episode I'm joined by Tamara Cincik, founder of think tank Fashion Roundtable to discuss the impact of Brexit on small UK textile businesses.

We delve into the challenges of supporting and promoting heritage brands, the need for trade associations to refocus their agendas, and the importance of heritage manufacturing in the textile industry.

The conversation includes a discussion of the plight of Cluny Lace, the last manufacturer of Nottingham lace in England, and the negative impact of Brexit on small businesses.

Topics covered in this episode:

The challenges facing heritage manufacturers like Cluny lace
Impact of Brexit on small businesses in the UK textile industry
The role of trade associations in the fashion industry
Importance of traditional skills and machinery

About Tamara Cincik and Fashion Roundtable

Tamara Cincik is the founder of Fashion Roundtable, an industry think tank established in 2017. With a background in the fashion industry as a stylist and editor, she founded Fashion Roundtable to give the fashion industry a voice in politics. With a British-Turkish background , Tamara has a strong connection to textiles and fashion through her family heritage. Fashion Roundtable is the secretariat for the All Party parliamentary group for ethics and sustainability and fashion and Cincik is an advocate for change in the political landscape to benefit the fashion industry as a whole.

Fashion Roundtable Website

Stay in Touch

British Brand Accelerator – A 6-month group programme for small businesses who want to manufacture and sell profitable UK-made products.

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.

Enjoyed this podcast? I also have a private podcast called ‘British Brand Bedrock’.

The British Brand Bedrock private podcast feed answers more than 30 of your most commonly asked questions on starting and growing a British-made Brand.

Subscribe to British Brand Bedrock here

Mentioned in this episode:

British Brand Accelerator

258 – How Do You Define an ‘Ethical Factory’? Apr 21, 2023

Show notes

We get a lot of people contacting us at Make it British asking if we can put them in touch with a sustainable or ethical factory to make their brand. So in this episode I define ways in which a factory might meet this criteria.

I also talk about the launch of Primark's new circular denim collection, which has had mixed reviews in the media, with many thinking it is greenwashing and an insult to small brands that are genuinely doing the right thing.

You can read some of the comments about the Primark collection on my Instagram Post here and on the chief exec of Primark's LinkedIn Post here.

In this episode you'll learn:

Why we need to question whether fast fashion brands like Primark are heading in the right direction or just greenwashing [01:10]
How do you define ethical? [04:10]
The types of questions you need to ask a manufacturer [04:53]
What is an audit and which ones should you check a factory has? [08:16]
Should you work with a factory which doesn’t have an audit? [10:26]

Stay in Touch

British Brand Accelerator - A 6-month group programme for small businesses who want to manufacture and sell profitable UK-made products.

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.

Enjoyed this podcast? I also have a private podcast called 'British Brand Bedrock'.

The British Brand Bedrock private podcast feed answers more than 30 of your most commonly asked questions on starting and growing a British-made Brand.

Subscribe to British Brand Bedrock here

Mentioned in this episode:

British Brand Accelerator

257 – From the Archives: Labour Behind the Label Call out BooHoo for Using Unethical Garment Factories Apr 14, 2023

Show notes

24th April 2023 marks the ten year anniversary of the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh, which killed over 1,000 workers and injured 2,500 more.

To mark the occasion, I look back on this episode of the podcast with Dominique Muller from Labour Behind the Label, in which we discuss the issues around fast fashion, and what effect it has had on the Leicester textile industry.

You'll learn:

Who Labour Behind the Label are and how the organisation came about [02:37]
Why the organisation is focusing on the UK garment industry in particular [04:16]
The reasons why Boohoo has been singled out in the report written by Labour Behind the Label [07:07]
What local councils and other authorities can do to stop unethical factories [09:55]
The worst discoveries that Labour Behind the Labour made when they looked into how garment workers were treated during the pandemic [13:36]
Dominque’s thoughts on how the good manufacturers in Leicester would benefit from brands returning to the city [15:58]
The work Labour Behind the Label does to educate brands and retailers on how to make sure their production is ethical [18:26]
What distinguishes a brand or retailer that is ethical to its workers [20:05]
What the consumer can do to make sure they aren’t funding unethical practices and companies [24:52]
Why brands should be more transparent about where their products are made [27:31]
What the government could be doing better in terms of positive changes being made in the fashion industry [30:27]
How people can support Labour Behind the Label [38:34]

About Labour Behind the Label

Labour behind the Label

Boohoo & Covid 19 – The people behind the profits

Clean Clothes Campaign – improving working conditions in the global garment industry

Fashion Checker – find out if the brands you buy from are paying their factory workers a living wage

Why we need transparent supply chains

Stay in Touch

British Brand Accelerator - A 6-month group programme for small businesses who want to manufacture and sell profitable UK-made products.

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.

Enjoyed this podcast? I also have a private podcast called 'British Brand Bedrock'.

The British Brand Bedrock private podcast feed answers more than 30 of your most commonly asked questions on starting and growing a British-made Brand.

Subscribe to British Brand Bedrock here

Mentioned in this episode:

British Brand Accelerator

256 – The No.1 Reason That Product Businesses Fail Apr 07, 2023

Show notes

Do you know what the no.1 reason is that product businesses fail? It's not legal problems, it's not finance problems, it's not even marketing problems. In this episode, you'll find out what it is, and how to avoid it.

You'll learn:

Why everything starts with the customer [03:47]
The reasons why getting your target customer right will help your business [06:09]
How knowing your ideal customer can help to develop a good partnership with a UK manufacturer [08:01]

Stay in Touch

British Brand Accelerator - A 6-month group programme for small businesses who want to manufacture and sell profitable UK-made products.

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.

Enjoyed this podcast? I also have a private podcast called 'British Brand Bedrock'.

The British Brand Bedrock private podcast feed answers more than 30 of your most commonly asked questions on starting and growing a British-made Brand.

Subscribe to British Brand Bedrock here

Mentioned in this episode:

British Brand Accelerator

255 – What can Bentley Motors teach British-made brands about selling in a downturn? Mar 31, 2023

Show notes

Download my Selling Price > Profit Calculator that goes with this episode here.

Recently Bentley Motors announced their financial results for 2022, which revealed they'd had their best year ever. This is a luxury car brand, made in the UK, having a phenomenal year during a cost of living crisis.

In this episode I discuss what small business can learn from Bentley's recent success, especially when it comes to price positioning.

You'll learn:

Why Bentley Motors had a phenomenal year in 2022 [01:48]
What you need to calculate before you discount your prices. [03:21]
Why profit is vanity and turnover is sanity. [05:37]
Two valuable lessons you can learn from Bentley's pricing strategy. [06:28]

Read the Bentley Motors financial results for 2022 here.

Mentioned in this episode:

British Brand Accelerator

254 -From Idea to Product: Print-on-Demand with Contrado Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

If you love factories, then today I have a little treat for you, as we are going on a factory tour with Contrado, who are a print on demand company.

Contrado are a truly impressive UK manufacturer. They not only print fabric, leather and other surfaces like glass and pottery, in their huge facility in West London, but they also stitch bags, clothing and accessories from their printed fabrics, and even make furniture as well.

Listen in on my tour around the factory with Chris Childs, co-founder of Contrado, and then a deep-dive into the story behind the business and where he sees the future of uk manufacturing going.

You'll learn:

What kind of capabilities the Contrado factory has in order to keep up with customer demand [02:44]
How a small business could utilise Contrado's low MOQ's to test out different product types [05:51]
How Chris and his wife Fran started the business from humble beginnings [10:05]
Why technology plays such a big part in the business [15:14]
How Chris manages his skilled workforce to create over 500 different products [18:10]
What systems Contrado has in place to guarantee happy customers [22:34]
How the business has tapped into multiple international markets [27:11]
Where Chris sees the business going in the next 20 years [32:46]

More from Contrado

Contrado on Instagram

Contrado Website

Bags of Love Website

Stay in Touch

British Brand Accelerator - A 6-month group programme for small businesses who want to manufacture and sell profitable UK-made products.

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.

Mentioned in this episode:

British Brand Accelerator

253 – 9 Job Skills that UK-Brand Owners Need to Have Mar 17, 2023

Show notes

When you run a UK-made brand you need to wear a lot of different hats!

In this episode we explore all of the different jobs you need to do and the skills you need to have, on top of producing fantastic products.

You'll learn:

Why being the chief executive officer of your business is your first title [03:08]
How managing marketing content plays a vital role in running a business [05:47]
Why you need to be in control of your production and why you can't rely on manufacturers to do this for you [07:01]
How managing your finances can make or break your business [08:35]
What role plays a crucial part in determining your environmental impact [12:25]
How to decide which of these jobs you might outsource first [15:22]

Stay in Touch

British Brand Accelerator - A 6-month group programme for small businesses who want to manufacture and sell profitable UK-made products.

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.

Mentioned in this episode:

British Brand Accelerator

252 – Behind the Scenes of Lingerie Manufacturing with Maxine Wells Mar 10, 2023

Show notes

On today’s episode I am chatting to Maxine Wells, who is the founder of Intimate Apparel Samples, a small lingerie studio in North West London.

Getting lingerie made in the UK can be challenging. Whilst the UK once had thousands of machinists making underwear for the likes of Marks & Spencers, sadly there are only now only a handful of lingerie manufacturers left in the UK.

I took a trip to Brent Cross where Intimate Apparel Samples is based to ask Maxine why there aren't more lingerie manufacturers in the UK and the benefits of having a great relationship with your manufacturer.

You'll learn:

How Maxine set up Intimate Apparel Samples after she had her own lingerie brand [03:14]
Why Maxine believes there is such a lack of lingerie and swimwear manufacturers in the UK [05:30]
The main pitfalls when it comes to making lingerie, and Maxine’s advice for how to avoid them [09:49]
Why having a great relationship with your manufacturer is so important [12:43]
How Maxine ensures she gets the fit right for her clients [14:49]
Why Maxine enjoys meeting the clients she works with to build a working relationship [23:40]

More from Intimate Apparel Samples

Intimate Apparel Samples on Instagram

Intimate Apparel Samples Website

Stay in Touch

British Brand Accelerator - A 6-month group programme for small businesses who want to manufacture and sell profitable UK-made products.

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.

Mentioned in this episode:

British Brand Accelerator

251 – Can You Sell Your Products without Using Social Media? Mar 03, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to Series 5!

After taking a couple of months hiatus to focus on writing my book, I'm back with a brand new series.

I'll be answering all of your most commonly asked questions about manufacturing, marketing and selling products that are made in the UK, and have some fantastic guests lined up for this series too.

In this episode you'll hear a snippet from Selling Without Social - a workshop I ran recently, which covers all of the different ways that you can market and sell your UK-made products without using social media.

You'll learn:

What Make it British has been up to during the podcast break [01:29]
Why you should look at other forms of marketing, other than social media [04:59]
How UK brands and businesses are currently feeling about social media [06:26]
Which other forms of digital marketing offer a higher return on investment [09:48]
Why it's dangerous to rely on social media to build your business [13:40]
Which marketing content has the longest lifespan [17:07]