Friday 9 October 2015

So why should you buy British?

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.

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.

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.

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

No comments:

Post a Comment