Make it British Podcast

🚀 Want to join British Brand Accelerator? Apply here: makeitbritish.co.uk/apply Doors close December 7th - don't wait! Got a question before applying? DM me on Instagram: @makeitbritish

Not all factories are created equal. And if you’re contacting 20 different manufacturers hoping one will say yes — you're doing it the hard way. In this episode of MANUFACTURING SOS, I’m talking about one of the most common mistakes I see when people start looking for a UK manufacturer: assuming every factory can make every kind of product. You’ll learn why factory specialisms matter, how MOQs and capacity make a difference, and what you actually need to look for when shortlisting a manufacturer. I’ll also share why I took down my free directory of UK manufacturers and the surprising truth about what manufacturers really said about being in it. Listen now to find out: 🏭 Why not every factory with a sewing machine is right for your product 🧵 What kind of research you really need to do before reaching out 🛑 The red flag that means a manufacturer isn’t a good fit 🍷 What looking for a factory partner and choosing a wine having in common! Get a copy of my UK Manufacturers List ▶️ Watch all 5 episodes of MANUFACTURING SOS on YouTube 🚀 Ready to scale your UK-made brand? Apply for the British Brand Accelerator at makeitbritish.co.uk/apply

In this episode in the MANUFACTURING SOS series, I’m breaking down why placing a big order with your manufacturer, especially on your first production run with them, can be a costly mistake. You’ll learn why it’s always smarter to treat your first production run as a test, how to avoid tying up all your money in stock, and how to respond when a manufacturer insists on high MOQs. If you’re at the stage of placing your first order with a factory, or wondering how many units to start with, don’t miss this one. 🎧 Listen now to find out: 📦 Why ordering big on your first run is rarely a good idea 🧪 How to treat your first production like a product test 👚 How to avoid ending up with stock you can’t sell ⭐️ Why less really is more when you're building a UK-made brand 🎧 Subscribe to the Make it British podcast so you don’t miss the rest of this special MANUFACTURING SOS series Get my Range Plan Template Here ▶️ Watch the full series on YouTube 🚀 Ready to scale your UK-made brand? Apply for the British Brand Accelerator at makeitbritish.co.uk/apply

Think tech packs are optional? Or that your manufacturer can just "sort it for you"? Think again. In this episode of Manufacturing SOS, I’m breaking down exactly what happens when you don’t have a proper tech pack, and why skipping this step is one of the most expensive mistakes you can make. You’ll learn why a tech pack is your blueprint, not just a boring admin task, and how trying to wing it will cost you more in sampling, quality control, and wasted materials. I’m also busting the myth that you need to spend thousands on a designer to create one – and showing you what to include (in plain English). Whether you’ve been told you don’t need one, or you’ve been avoiding it because it sounds too techy, this episode is your wake-up call. Listen now to find out: 🧵 What a tech pack actually is and why it matters 💸 How skipping it costs you money, time, and control 🧠 Why pay £100s to get one made 📋 What to include in a tech pack (and how to keep it simple) 🎧 Subscribe to the Make it British podcast so you don’t miss the rest of this special MANUFACTURING SOS series ▶️ Watch the full series on YouTube 🚀 Ready to scale your UK-made brand? Apply for the British Brand Accelerator at makeitbritish.co.uk/apply

What UK Manufacturers Really Think When You Ask About Price If the first thing you ask a factory is “How much?” — you’re not alone. But it might explain why you’re not getting the response you hoped for. In this episode of Manufacturing SOS, I’m unpacking what actually happens when you lead with price, and why it’s one of the fastest ways to put off the best manufacturers. You’ll learn how to work backwards from a realistic retail price, how to spot when your margins just don’t add up, and what to do before you ever ask for a quote. You’ll also get a reality check on what it really costs to make something in the UK — and why bartering isn’t a strategy. If you want to be taken seriously by UK factories and avoid wasting everyone’s time (including your own), this episode is for you. Listen now to find out: 💸 Why asking for price too soon makes you look unprepared 🧮 How to calculate a realistic target cost price 🧵 Why most founders get their garment costings completely wrong 📉 What happens when you treat manufacturing like price shopping 🔁 What to say to a factory instead of “how much is this to make?” 🎧 Subscribe to the Make it British podcast so you don’t miss the rest of this special MANUFACTURING SOS series ▶️ Watch the full series on YouTube 🚀 Ready to scale your UK-made brand? Apply for the British Brand Accelerator at makeitbritish.co.uk/apply

If your inbox is full of unanswered emails to factories, it's not personal. It's a sign you're making critical mistakes that scream 'newbie'. In this first episode in this special series MANUFACTURING SOS I’m diving into one of the most common frustrations I hear from founders - that they've contacted manufacturers and no one got back to them. Sound familiar? Before you assume UK manufacturers are just ignoring you, you need to hear this. I’m sharing the real reasons factories hit delete, including vague enquiries, missing tech packs, and the one thing they’ll always check before replying to you. You’ll also hear a cautionary tale about what happens when you work with a so-called UK manufacturer that turns out to be a middleman. Spoiler: it nearly cost one founder £30k. If you want to stop wasting time and make sure you’re actually factory-ready, this episode is for you. Listen now to find out: What red flags instantly tell a manufacturer you're not ready The mistake that gets your enquiry ghosted 75% of the time Why your email address and Instagram feed matter more than you think How to avoid falling for middlemen posing as UK factories What to do before you ever send that first email 🎧 Subscribe to the Make it British podcast so you don't miss the rest of this special MANUFACTURING SOS series. ▶️ Watch the full series on YouTube 🚀 Ready to scale your UK-made brand? Apply for the British Brand Accelerator at makeitbritish.co.uk/apply

Brand New Mini Series Coming Soon: Manufacturing SOS After a year-long hiatus, the Make It British Podcast is coming back! Series 7 is currently in the works, but while you wait, I’ve got something special for you… Introducing a brand new mini series called Manufacturing SOS. This special series is for anyone who’s starting or scaling a clothing, accessories or homeware brand and wants to get their products made in the UK without wasting time, money or losing their mind in the process. Each episode is short and straight to the point. And in my usual no-nonsense style, I’ll be breaking down the most common manufacturing mistakes I see brands make, and how to avoid them. These are the things I hear the same mistakes I hear again and again during the hundreds of conversations I’ve had with brand founders over the last few years. They’re also the things I know UK manufacturers wish more brands understood before they reached out. Some of the mistakes I’ll be sharing might already be painfully familiar. But hopefully by hearing them now, you’ll avoid making the same ones, and potentially save yourself thousands in the process. Whether you’ve: This Manufacturing SOS series is for you. 🎬 First episode drops very soon. Make sure you're subscribed to the Make It British podcast on your favourite podcast platform and to my YouTube channel if you’d prefer to watch the video version. 🎓 Want my full step-by-step framework? If you're ready to get serious about developing and manufacturing your product in the UK, watch my FREE masterclass: The 3-Part Framework for Growing a Profitable UK-Made Brand 👉 Get instant access at makeitbritish.co.uk/masterclass

Finding a UK manufacturer doesn’t have to be a challenge! In this bonus episode, I share the recording of my recent webinar, where I break down the 5 essential steps to finding your perfect manufacturing partner. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: Resources & Links Mentioned: Join Get Set for Manufacturing

Welcome to episode 300! Celebrating the 300th episode of this podcast I look back at some of the amazing guests that I've had on this show from the world of UK fashion and textile manufacturing. Manufacturers that have shared their stories, their challenges, and their successes with us. Episodes / Manufacturers featured in this episode: Episode 102 - David Collinge | John Spencer Textiles Episode 005 - Keith Hanshaw | The Leather Satchel Company Episode 088 - Chris Woodford | Crown Northampton Episode 193 - Ian Maclean | John Smedley MBE Episode 55 - Lance Mitchell | Mitchell Interflex Episode 113 - Ruth Masson | Harris Tweed Episode 290 - Christopher Nieper | David Nieper OBE Episode 96 - Richard Ince | Ince Umbrellas Episode 004 - Jo Ashburner-Farr | Red Dragon Flagmakers Episode 254 - Chris Childs | Contrado Episode 21 - Jenny Holloway | Fashion Enter Episode 31 - Mick Cheema | Basic Premier Episode 299 - A visit to Vagabond bags with Simon Michelson Episode 118 - David Williams | Stoll GB Episode 203 - Saed Saleh | Mars Knitwear Episode 060 - Diana Kakkar

Join me on a tour round a factory! In this episode I'm chatting with Simon Michelson, owner of Vagabond Bags, a sewing factory in Swindon that makes cosmetic bags, shower caps and hot water bottle covers. Meet some of the people working in the factory, hear about the jobs they do and find out how many shower hats one person can make in a day. Spoiler - it's quite a lot! HANDY LINKS British Brand Accelerator - Work closely with me to start or grow your UK-made brand. Newsletter - Subscribe for a weekly dose of inspiration and advice on making in the UK Make it British Website YouTube Instagram

I'm joined today by 3 amazing people that work tirelessly in the UK fashion and textile industry. You may have seen in the press recently that several high profile brands have been affected by the close of Matches, but did you know about the knock on affect that has had on the UK manufacturers? I also heard yesterday the sad news that the Mackintosh factory in Lancashire is closing. What the heck is going on? So I went live on Instagram with 3 special guests to discuss the topic, and this episode is your opportunity to hear the full discussion if you missed the live. My guests are: Tamara Cincik from think tank Fashion Roundtable Mustafa Fuat from Gosha London Diana Kakkar from Maes London Some of the keys points we discussed: Watch the original Instagram live here

The title says it all. Listen to find out what it is! HANDY LINKS British Brand Accelerator - Work closely with me to start or grow your UK-made brand. Newsletter - Subscribe for a weekly dose of inspiration and advice on making in the UK Make it British Website YouTube Instagram

Join me on a visit to KC Manufacturing (previously Kalopsia Collective) in Dumferline, Scotland to meet with husband and wife team Adam Robertson and Nina Falk. KC Manufacturing is a social enterprise specialising in small batch manufacturing. Discover: About KC Manufacturing KC Manufacturing website Episode 51 - Small Batch Manufacturing with Adam Robertson, Kalopsia Collective. HANDY LINKS British Brand Accelerator - Work closely with me to start or grow your UK-made brand. Newsletter - Subscribe for a weekly dose of inspiration and advice on. making in the UK Make it British Website YouTube Instagram

Regular listeners to this podcast will know that I am all about encouraging brands to manufacture locally. But in some cases, it might not make good sense to do so. In this episode I explain the 4 reasons why you might NOT want to make in the UK. Want my advice on whether your product should or could be made here? Reach out to my with a direct message on Instagram @makeitbritish here HANDY LINKS British Brand Accelerator - Work closely with me to start or grow your UK-made brand. Newsletter - Subscribe for a weekly dose of inspiration and advice on. making in the UK Make it British Website YouTube Instagram

One of the questions that came up on one of our recent British Brand Accelerator group coaching calls was so good, I thought I'd bring it to you on the podcast this week. The question was about whether a small business that makes in the UK should be offering a discount when someone opts in to their newsletter, and whether this strategy works. It opened a whole discussion amongst the group about the pros and cons of discounting and other ideas for getting potential customers to sign up to your newsletter. So if you are wondering the same thing about discounting, this episode is for you! Sign up the the British Brand Accelerator waitlist here - www.makeitbritish.co.uk/waitlist

This week I’m bringing some very sad news - that the UK’s only cotton spinning mill, English Fine Cottons, which brought cotton spinning back to Greater Manchester in 2018, has very sadly gone into administration. In case you don’t know about the history of English Fine Cottons, it was set up by the technical textile spinners Culimeta-Saveguard, who invested £4.8m of its own money, £2m of which was a loan from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, to regenerate a former Victorian cotton mill and install new technology to create luxury yarn. A further £1m was awarded as a grant by the N Brown Textile Growth Programme. English Fine Cottons was the start of something very exciting in UK manufacturing, and for this to have happened is tragic. The collapse into administration is caused by the parent group Culimeta-Saveguard going down, and unfortunately that has taken the cotton spinning down with it. Something needs to be done to save our only cotton spinning mill, otherwise this is history repeating itself. So today's episode is a remastered version of a visit that I did to English Fine Cottons in 2019, along with an interview with Andy Ogden, who was the general manager at the time.

Today's guests are Andrea and David Courtney from Courtney & Co buttonmakers Back in 2012 I was contacted by someone who was trying to save the UK’s last remaining horn button maker - Grove & Sons. He was looking for investors to buy up the machinery and pattern books from the business so that the art of natural button making in the UK was not lost. Well it turns out that the investor that this guy eventually found was someone called David Courtney, who saw an ad to buy the machinery and patterns, and decided that he wanted to help. But things are never as easy as the seem, and this initial investment took David Courtney down a very long and winding path to bring button making back to the UK. Over a decade later and David Courtney now has an amazing button-making factory in the Cotswolds, with state of the art machinery, producing buttons from 3 different types of materials. He’s also enlisted his lovely wife Andrea to head the factory up, and they now supply the most beautiful buttons to brands and designers wanting an authentic UK-made button, still made using the original patterns that David saved from Grove & Sons. This interview was recorded onsite in their factory in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, and Andrea and David recount the full tale of how Courtney & Co buttons got to where they are today. About Courtney & Co Courtney & Co Website Courtney & Co on Instagram FURTHER RESOURCES Quiz: Are you ready to work with a UK factory? HANDY LINKS British Brand Accelerator Make it British Website YouTube Instagram

This episode celebrates 15 years since I registered the domain makeitbritish.co.uk and busts some of the myths about UK manufacturing. You'll find out: To see the video recording of this talk, go to makeitbritish.co.uk/microfactories Want to work together? Fill in this form so I can find out more about your business goals, and I'll get back to you with ways I can help.

Christopher Nieper OBE is the managing director of David Nieper, a womenswear business in Alfreton in Derbyshire. The firm was set up by Christopher's parents sixty years ago and is now one of the most vertical textile operations in the UK. Christopher recently invested in state-of-the-art digital printing equipment so that the factory can print it's own fabric onsite. David Nieper already prints all their own catalogues and produce their own knitwear in house, alongside the garment production. In this episode you can hear about the research Christopher commissioned from Nottingham university looking at the greenhouse gas emissions produced to make clothing at the David Nieper factory in Derbyshire. The study then compared these findings to the emissions produced by making garments in China, Turkey and Bangladesh and then shipping them to the UK. It makes for very interesting insights into how making in the UK can be quantified as more sustainable. A big advocate for slow fashion, Christopher has also found that his customers keep and wear his clothes 10 times longer than average. Listen to this episode to discover: This episode is the recording of a talk that Christopher did at Make it British Live! Online event in October 2020. About David Nieper Watch my Instagram reel showing behind the scenes at the David Nieper factory. David Nieper website Stay in Touch British Brand Accelerator - Find out how you can work with me to build your British-made brand Make it British website

In this episode of the Make it British podcast, Karen McCluckie, the director of Bealies Adaptive Wear, shares her inspiring journey of creating adaptive clothing for wheelchair users and disabled individuals. Motivated by her son's disability and the lack of suitable clothing options in the market, Karen embarked on a mission to design stylish and functional joggers tailored to the needs of wheelchair users. From the initial idea to overcoming challenges and securing funding, Karen discusses the process of bringing her innovative designs to the market while juggling her role as a social worker. With a commitment to UK manufacturing and a vision for expanding her product range, Karen's story highlights the power of innovation and determination in creating inclusive fashion solutions. About Caron McCluckie Caron on Linkedin Bealies Adaptivewear Website