We’ve been avidly watching the new Mary Portas series ‘Mary’s Bottom Line’ broadcast recently on Channel 4. If you haven’t seen it yet you are truly missing something quite momentous – and wonderfully inspiring. And of course you’re guaranteed her pithy sense of humour throughout and her no-nonsense but big-hearted charm. The premise is: Mary wants to breathe life back into the clothing manufacturing industry and make 100% British knickers. And boy does she bring her ‘Kinky Knickers’ to the public’s attention!

She is showing that by bringing one – just one – clothing factory back into operation it has a huge effect, not just with the people directly employed but everyone involved at each stage of the process (in episode three she lines them all up and introduces them). It has a knock on effect within the local community and also throughout the wider area. The journey for everyone involved is so moving. It’s about putting the pride back into people, back into the country: a sense of belonging.

Mary has shown something really important here. If there’s a will, there always has to be a way. We couldn’t agree more. We feel a personal sense of responsibility to have fully 100% of our products made in Britain. At the moment it stands at 95% but we have already got plans in place to phase out very soon the products that were manufactured under licence overseas and shortly they will be made here. We have a commitment to source and make everything in Britain – very proudly! Of course all the products are designed here by Hartwig, which goes without saying.

Though Hartwig and I may not have been born here we have adopted Britain as our home. We love the country, the people, the humour, the culture; in fact we love everything about it. Maybe not the constantly-changing weather so much! But we have a sense of pride in Britain. That’s why it’s so important for us to have all our products made here. It presents great opportunities but equally massive challenges.

Price, materials and wages are the key challenges. The cost per product is still higher here than abroad but it is starting to change – slowly. I think people are starting to acknowledge this now. Wages are rising in the Far East along with global transportation being much higher due to increases in oil so the cost per item is going up.   

At the moment, because Britain is lacking some active manufacturing facilities it means that there are things that you can’t really do here, for example; if you want to get iPhone covers printed all over, pretty much still the only place to do it cost effectively is the Far East. But there are starting to be other places now in America and I think possibly even here now in Britain as well. So eventually things like that could be manufactured here but I think there’s definitely a move towards making more things in Britain.

Now for us, being able to do things in Britain, having this direct relationship with our suppliers has given us a tremendous opportunity which has been helping us grow and develop the way we have over the past few years. To be able to get on a train and meet face to face so that you can all sit down and discuss any constraints on both sides. Having a relationship in a language that you both feel comfortable speaking is also really important. Any problems can be resolved much faster (a perfect example demonstrated with Mary’s knicker lace order).

Also, ordering and re-ordering stock is a lot more flexible and a lot quicker. You can replenish stock within a few days. If we run out of anything we just pick up the phone and call our suppliers, telling them what we need more of. It’s manufactured to order for us straight away and we get it by the end of the week, which is fantastic! It means that we don’t have to stockpile so financially it makes a lot of sense. Okay, some things have to be a bit more planned, like our fabrics for instance – which we would need to print a few hundred metres at a time – but still it’s only about four weeks lead time. At the moment I’m working out what I might need for the Olympics period so I’ll be placing orders around the end of April so that I can ensure that I get the stock well in advance.

Another benefit to working with and establishing good relationships with suppliers in Britain is that they can see that you are trustworthy. You prove to them that you run your business as effectively as you can and therefore there is the potential to receive credit terms – which is extremely difficult to get from companies abroad. So, there is also trust within the relationship.

And above and beyond everything – especially as we’re so passionate about small, creative businesses and about people supporting themselves – I love the fact that every single penny we spend on our stock is spent in Britain; it’s going towards keeping somebody employed. It’s all going towards helping somebody staying independent, provide for their family and themselves and very proudly creating something of value. With our products being high quality I think that kind of carries on to the people that make them. You know, our suppliers often tell us how much they love making our products because they love the designs. So everybody along the chain benefits from it, financially and in many other aspects.

It’s got enormous value when a customer walks in to the shop and asks, ‘”Where is it made?” When you say that it’s made in Britain they really appreciate it and are so pleased. It’s almost like an extra incentive to decide to buy the product as it means that in some way they are supporting the country.

If you are a small business and looking to have your products manufactured here in Britain: it is do-able! Mary’s proving it, Arty Globe’s doing it, and many others are doing it. It all starts with the business owner saying, “I want to get it done in Britain.” That personal responsibility and commitment to actually getting it done in this country: once you’re committed to it you will find a way.

I think Mary Portas showed it really well with her determination to make knickers fully 100% in Britain. Even though it was really difficult to source the lace and when she did eventually find a supplier (his was the only lace factory in the country) he was selling off the last of his stock and going out of business while they were filming but because she really passionately believed in it, and managed to get loads of orders that was enough to convince the manufacturer to try and go back into business again. So, she helped a small business hopefully to resurrect its operations and get back to life and she touched a lot of other people’s lives in the process. It’s that kind of commitment we could ALL have.

The demand is here. The skills are here. More and more people are setting up innovative businesses – going back to traditional skills that used to be prevalent here in Britain and they’re really trying hard to get things moving again. Some businesses are still at fledgling stage but nevertheless they are out there in Britain. It might not be immediately easy but all you have to do is look hard to find them. Don’t give up and go abroad to manufacture! There’s a really good chance that you’ll find it here.

By supporting these enterprises –believing in them by giving them the business – this could help in the long run to restore part of this country’s strong manufacturing heritage through the making of products again in Britain, and fixing our broken economy.

I think also the big companies and the larger retailers do have to take some responsibility too, almost leading by example. Liberty placed the first order with Mary’s knicker factory and Ed Burstell (Liberty’s MD) took the time to go from London to Middleton in North-West England (where the factory is based) to see and meet the people making the knickers. He took the time to tell them what a great job they were doing and I think that really touched them. One of the trainees (James) actually looked at him and said, “You know what, it really means a lot that you didn’t just sit in your office and order our knickers. That you actually came to see us and you actually came to show your support to what we’re doing. That means a lot.” He was unemployed before that a few months before. He said to Mary that one day he’d like to manage the factory. This whole process gave him the confidence that life could be different – that he can actually do something meaningful, not just for himself but for society as a whole, that he is an important part of the community.

I have great respect for Liberty because I think they really do their best to celebrate and promote the best of British. They’ve shown it in several programmes such as; ‘Britain’s Next Best Thing’ with Theo Paphitis, where Liberty was an integral part and they took on quite a lot of up-and-coming designer-makers giving them a great stage at their wonderful shop.

So, for me, I don’t think it’s up to the politicians, or the trade bodies, the regional investment organisations and all the other associations. By the time we wait for any policy changes it’ll be too late. It’s up to each and all of us. We can influence things with our action. That will naturally bring about a real change which will speak a lot louder than any words.

It starts with a want and a need to make a difference. Each person living in this country can take that action. And the action is very simple:

• If you’re a consumer: actively seek out British made products and reward the people who work hard to bring them to market by spending your money buying wisely and buying British.

• If you’re a retailer: make sure that at least part of your proposition is British made and make every effort you can to actively seek and stock British made products – even if the cost is slightly higher – there will be people out there, they might not sell as much volume at the moment, but the rewards later will be really great and you will be playing your part in supporting the community.

• If you’re a manufacturer, no matter how hard it is, really think about having some of your production at least in Britain.

People in this country do appreciate British made products. Greenwich Market is renowned for showcasing high-quality, special and unique British-made products on the stalls and in the shops made by creative designer-makers. I don’t buy that much for myself and I’m not much of a shopper but I always try and buy from small independent businesses locally. For example I’d rather go and buy one jumper every so often from Emma (Emma Nissim www.emmanissim.com) in Greenwich and support her business. But of course like everybody else there are still some things I have to buy for myself which aren’t necessarily made here.

I do think that little steps add up though. Take food as an example. I’ll always buy fruit and veg in season that is grown here. If each of us consciously started thinking about where our money was going and what each pound would do for our local communities then maybe we would think twice about that ‘bargain’ manufactured abroad. In the long run it doesn’t seem much of a bargain after all, does it?