What’s the big deal? Way back when, Britain was quite
literally a hive of industry. The Industrial Revolution and the mills and
factories cropping up everywhere meant that not only were we quite self-sufficient
(apart from lovely exotic things, like tea), it meant we were also exporting
all our goods across the world.
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| Our lipbalms travel all over the world! |
Britain was a trade country, we traded our cotton for their
tea, or our leather for their spices. Time moved on though, and the world
changed. We lost some of our manufacturing power as it became faster and
cheaper to produce things abroad – when I was a little girl, nearly every toy I
owned was stamped with Made In China. So much so, I believed that’s where all
toys were made, and always had been. A bit like Santa’s factory full of elves.
Maybe that was in China.
Nowadays we live in a throwaway society, and our goods are
increasingly cheaper. Stemming the tide though is a new revolution- the British
Revolution. Partly a move to protect our manufacturing heritage, and partly a
wish to reduce carbon emissions by purchasing from within your own time zone.
We, along with many other small businesses and sole traders
welcome this change wholeheartedly. We wear the Made In Britain stamp with
pride on our website, and we mention it wherever we can. The vast majority of
our products are handmade by us, in our HQ. As we’ve grown bigger, we’ve needed
help from a small scale manufacturer – but they too are based in Britain, and
we wouldn’t dream of taking that further afield.
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| Some of our amazing nail varnishes are made by our wonderful manufacturer! |
To have something proudly made in Britain is still a badge
of honour, it carries a prestige that not many other countries can match.
Britain itself is so old, that Heritage is very important for brands, and it’s
why fashion houses like Burberry and Mackintosh do so well after all these
years – when you buy a real Mac, you’re buying a slice of history – you’re
weaving yourself into the very fabric of Britain. And this, to a lot of
customers is aspirational.
There will always be customers who want the latest in
technology straight from Japan, but for each one of those there’s someone somewhere
coveting a Debrett’s guide and some Clan Tartan. Sometimes people can feel
ashamed to be proud of their country and their heritage, but I’ll always be
proud of Britain, and I’ll always be proud that Fairypants makes things on
British soil – and always will.
This British Revolution serves many purposes, it helps the
environment – since you’re not shipping that designer handbag halfway across
the world. It helps the economy – keeping your hard earned pound within the
confines of these sceptered isles. It also boosts small businesses – since much
of the treasure you’ll find online when you google ‘made in Britain’ will be
from businesses such as ourselves, or even busy mums fitting in a crafting
session around their children’s schedules. And really, if you’re going to line
anyone else’s pockets with your cash, it’s better that it’s a small pocket that
will put real food on the table of a real family- than a pocket with a hole in
it linked to an offshore bank account.
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| You can't get these in a greengrocers, sorry. |
Made in Britain can refer to anything – from our perfumes to
the smallest grocer left clinging onto the high street. From market stalls to
Burberry themselves, this heritage, this lifestyle is something that should be
adopted by everyone. The trend is growing, but we need to give it a little
shove to help smaller businesses, or those just starting out a chance at
survival.
In short, if you support British businesses you do more than
just spend a slice of your wage on something pretty. You’ll be making a difference
to lots of other people, and you’ll be bolstering our home grown manufacturing
while you’re at it. Nothing in the world beats a stranger buying something you’ve
made – I should know, but I bet owning something individual, made round the
corner from where you live comes pretty close.
xox
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