http://www.channel4.com/info/press/programme-information/mary-s-bottom-line

Basicly Mary, has re opened a factory in Rochdale to make womens knickers, using unemployed lads and girls,and some qualified staff to train them, its a documentry about how they succeeded and the pitfals.

Very well made and a great insite into womens knickers /manufacturing.

Anyone else watched .

I’ve recorded the programme as I admire her very much indeed.

As a person who is a seamstress myself, it’s really bad some of the stuff that people buy from abroad and for a few pounds more (pennies in some cases) you will keep our manufacturing ticking over, with well made British goods.

My own business is as British as I can get. Handbags made by myself, with fabrics designed, woven, dyed and printed in an old working mill in Derbyshire. It’s hard going to sell the stuff I make, even though feedback has been really good.

Good luck to Mary and her band of un/happy workers, they’ll need it.

She is so positive and a whirlwind, just read last one next week.

Only one lace manufacturer left in UK … very sad.

We had a clothing business in the early eighties and everything we sold was British made as we bought it straight from the factories.

By the mid eighties it was becoming more and more difficult to buy knitwear produced in the UK because of the gradual retraction of manufacturers.The imported stuff was no cheaper but the range was far larger and in the end we had no choice but to move over to the imports.
The foreign factories invested heavily in new machines,mostly Italian,and used their technicians to get them up and running.
The British made underwear we sold was great quality and price but even that supplier went bankrupt and all the underwear sold moved on to imported.
There is plenty of imported rubbish about ,but the far east can and does turn out some great quality stuff as they invested in the long term.

She said the word; ‘GUSSET’ on national telly, it made my day 🙂

I’m watching it. The factory is about a mile away from where I work. Middleton is pretty awful, if Mary and Co. can save these 7 kids good luck to her.

The really sad thing is that a massive chunk of British industry is on its arse because of foreign imports that were once cheap. With home grown industry gone the price of imports is going to go up. Transportation costs, improved standards of living/pay in China and they’ve got us over a barrel as we can’t make our own anymore.

My job (heavy engineering) is going at the end of May. We make a profitable product but our end customers are in China so the group has decided to shift production there.

Lack of investment in industry over the last 30 years has left us a nation of call centre workers and shelf stackers. Those that have a job that is. 😐

My job (heavy engineering) is going at the end of May. We make a profitable product but our end customers are in China so the group has decided to shift production there.

Harry that’s really bad.
Hubby’s last job got shipped over to India. Luckily he found a new job within months, hope you do too.

well i’m going to get a pair for the missus.
Does anybody have a list of British made clothing manufacturers I’m in need of a new wardrobe.

I bought some British Clothing after watching Dom Joly’s “Made in Britain” programme.

http://uktv.co.uk/blighty/homepage/sid/7399

http://www.peregrineclothing.co.uk/mens/jackets/tt-jacket/

Faint- Ahem, click my user name for trousers.

Very interesting program, I get what Mary Portas is trying to do and good on her, but would it work in the real world?
Who is financing the PR and trips up and down the country?
There must also be massive waste in both time and fabrics while the machinists are training.

The really sad thing is that a massive chunk of British industry is on its arse because of foreign imports that were once cheap. With home grown industry gone the price of imports is going to go up. Transportation costs, improved standards of living/pay in China and they’ve got us over a barrel as we can’t make our own anymore.

My job (heavy engineering) is going at the end of May. We make a profitable product but our end customers are in China so the group has decided to shift production there.

I served my apprenticeship in heavy engineering, then thatcher came along and dismantled the term and the work ethic that grew up around it, my steelworks was dismantled by the chineese, and put in crates, sent to Birkenhead docks and then 1200, miles across china to be rebuilt in chung king, an new industrial city, down the road a quite modern steelworks at Bidston was also dismantled, and sold to china, the site is now a Tesco, supermarket.

The sad thing is nowadays we cant buy British as British stuff doesnt exist for a lot of things we need to buy.

Power tools, machinery,bike parts,a lot of books, computers, toys, etc etc.

all is not lost…….

This is the same woman who wrote a report on how to improve high streets and didn’t mention rents, right?

Back to original subject, I was quite pleased that she is aiming the knickers squarely at ‘real’ women, rather than the scrawny bags o bones that you normally see in undie ads. I was also pleased that the program gave significant airtime to the selection of said curvy women in their smalls for the ads. (well, my eyes aren’t painted on, sorry 😳 )

NigeW – can you make us riding shorts?
Can I come and see you?

I used to wear spencers at school 🙂

Brant, we have tried without much success making cycling shorts, we dont use performance fabrics, and find they wear out too quickly, sorry.

Didnt every school boy in the Calder Valley wear them for school 😆

Can you not get some performance fabric from Pennine Outdoor 🙂

I was over in Airedale as a schoolboy, in Bingley. Bought from Henry Smiths on Foxs Corner in Shipley.

Am I the only person who can on the one hand admire Mary Portas’ achievements whilst at the same time finding her to be the single most annoying person yet seen on TV?

Is she the one who looks like a Swan Vesta?

Is she the one who looks like a Swan Vesta?

No she is the one who is a very capable buissness lady, who has the media on her ide, and hopefully going to create more jobs.