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I wouldn’t look good in a dress, even a $1500 custom made one!

So I’d rather have the Enve rims, which are made in Utah, USA.

S’OK, it just made me laugh the last time I had a ‘How much? 8O’ comment from a chap on a ride. I’m sure his wife had similar thoughts about his bike bling.

But yes, there are British goods around and it’s good that people are thinking more about buying them now – the general story of development is that the production followed cheap wages but as countries developed, the difference in labour costs reduced and more production can be done in the UK/EU. However, in the meantime we’ve lost a lot of the manufacturing capacity and skills.

We source all our yarn in the UK (from British sheep) but whilst we’ve been around (nearly 10 years) we lost several spinners which has made my job harder. I visited a couple who working on the most amazingly antiquated machinery – I think that is where lack of investment really showed. Plus when one decided to retire at 80 odd, the value of the factory as building land far exceeded the value of the business. That was sad.

Anyway, don’t despair. Amazingly several lines of DfS sofas are made in Accrington (my business partner’s husband used to work there). We still do knitwear – not just my niche brand but excellent socks here & here! There’s quite a bit if you look around – we do a cap made out of fabric woven in Lancashire and stitched by a cap maker in Yorkshire. Sorry to ramble on, researching UK made stuff is one of the things I love doing.

I was a bit saddened to discover the new Brooks Cambium saddle is made in Italy and not down the road from me in Smethwick 🙁

Clover – you have put so well into words how things are atm. However I see change, things are getting better, slowly but surely.

I manage to sell many of my products in a local shop. The shop keeper makes an effort to label any of her goods that are British (mostly mine) so they stand out. Shoppers are getting sick of the (mostly tat) same old stuff that you can buy on any High street or supermarket, so discerning shoppers are looking out for British made goods, which on the whole are usually of a decent quality and original.

As for Laura Ashley most if not all of their fabrics are printed in Wales.

Just noticed this thread, have a look at http://www.kimwetu.com, makes intresting reading and sorts out what’s really English (Or not)I’ve started to use it quite a lot recently

Clover/Bunnyhop well said. So many people seem to be defeatist or dismissive about our ability to make great products in the UK.

My wife is a woven textile designer and has worked for companies who export most of their cloth to all corners of the world, provide the fabric and knitwear for brands like Burberry and Chanel, or make tweed for estates in Scotland. It constantly amuses me that we can see a Paul Smith jacket in a shop for £800 yet she will point out that Paul Smith often refused to pay the prices charged by UK cloth manufacturers.

Music!

Probably around 80% of the music I buy is made by British artists.

and football.

Is there anything that competes against the premier league as a national marketable sports product worlwide?

Absolutely fantastic if you would like a woolen garment, I’m sure the textile industry is capable of producing profitibly in the UK and to a quite acceptable level of quality

In terms of Cycles then it appears Brompton are the wooly jumper maker of the bike world, How typically British

Stick to the import tat clinging on to some British roots if you want anything modern then? Or buy Orange.