I mentioned in this weeks newsletter the great sadness I felt on learning our lovely Scottish weaver was closing his doors in January. It wasn’t just a professional loss of a supplier, it was a personal one too. I had worked with Angus since my days at Osborne and Little in the early 90s and consider him a friend as well as a colleague. The mill has been in his family for over 190 years and he wove fabric for many British and American fabric houses. He supported me from the very start of the business when I was buying one roll at a time from him and we developed our lovely 100% linen base cloth together - I am sure he rolled his eyes volubly every time he received a bundle of bits of old French linen sheets with a note saying “more like this”.
I have looked at numerous options for our print basecloths going forward, and have come to the conclusion that from an ethical, sustainable and practical point of view I want our production to remain in the UK.
Having worked with manufacturers all over the world during my career I wanted to ensure we are always working with manufacturers who share our beliefs and ethos. I want to work with manufacturers who pay their staff a proper living wage , who are striving to be sustainable, investing in people, technology and production methods and who operate ethically and fairly.
With all this in mind we are happy to report that we have placed our basecloths with 2 Lancashire based weavers. Keeping production in Britain will inevitably mean a price rise * which is always difficult and is always something I wrestle with, but I could not in all conscience move production to the Far East to save a few pounds at the expense of my core beliefs. It has been really super to work directly with the sixth generation mill owner to try and create a new basecloth, he has been really informative and transparent about costs and production routes, so I feel I have learned a lot in the past 2 months too - we should never stop learning !!! I am also happy that both mills are family businesses. It is very important for me to be working with people who really care about what they are doing and invest in building good relationships with their customers. Theres a reason I have stayed with the same printer for the last 15 years!
This leads me on to brexit! Sadly it has happened. I know many people voted leave with the thought that it wouldnt affect them “ we buy from British suppliers” they cried. However the fact remains that Britain is not a supplier of the raw materials for most fabrics! You will not have seen fields of flax or cotton wafting in the breeze as you motor up the M6! It has to come from somewhere, and post brexit that means many an import headache for British fabric companies.
Its not all doom and gloom though! We are still able to import some lovely plain tumbled linen from Belgium - albeit it at a bit higher price and we will be looking to add to expand our woven collections as our relationship with the new weavers builds, so its an exciting time for positive steps.
Happy weekend everybody
*I mentioned the dreaded price rise, this will come in to effect in the middle of march but we will have some flexibility for our customers who are mid project with us , please let us know if you need some flexibility as soon as you are able.