Father's Day Gift Ideas

Dads can be difficult to buy for, so here are a few suggestions.  Hope they help!

Arranging a few garden flowers

Snip off a few clematis flowers from the garden if you have them and make a pretty informal arrangement with a few little vases, such as below:

A cause for celebration

The Royal Wedding was a great celebration of a very British institution and British produce.  The theme of 'British where ever possible' is surely to be applauded.  The beautiful dress was by the British designer Sarah Burton.  The lace applique for the body and skirt was handmade by the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court.  

The food was a celebration of British produce.  For example, Scottish smoked salmon, Scottish langoustines, Cornish crab salad, English goats cheese, lamb from the Windsor estate, British cheese selection, Gressingham duck and wine from Chapel Down in Kent.  The fruit cake was from Fiona Cairns and a biscuit cake from McVities. 

At least the Royals recognise the importance of British produce, especially on such a British occassion.

This is not something to be taken for granted for, at the British Olympics, it is said that only about 8% of the merchandise is made in Britain and the food and drink sponsors are McDonalds, Cadbury's and Coca-Cola.  It would seem our politicians do not have the same principles or loyalties.

Love Products and Olympics latest

Valentine's Day is nearly upon us.  Here at Not Mass Produced we have such lovely things, though I say it myself.  Don't you think items that are handmade with affection are so much more appreciated than thier factory made counterparts?

Here are a few examples:

The response from my MP (who also happens to be the Business Minister) about the Olympic merchandise being mainly produced overseas was that, 90% of the companies producing Olympic produce were British, but where they made the products was the responsibility of those companies. "Those companies who source their manufacturing from overseas do so when there is no manufacturing left for that kind of produce in the UK."  

I find it difficult to believe that the UK can't produce towels, toys, sheets and mugs?  It seems to me to be more to do with those companies maximising their profits than anything else.  The UK reached a record £9.2bn trade deficit in December according to the latest data from the Office of National Statistics.  It is even more reason to encourage UK manufacturing at the Olympics is it not?

British but not as we know it

There was a report out this week that stated that just 8% of the British Olympic merchandise is actually going to be manufactured in Britain.  Although most of the companies allocated the contracts are British, they are mostly outsourcing their production overseas. 

Is it me or is this a massive wasted opportunity?  We are certainly not short of creative talent in this country, far from it.  However, all visitors are going to be able to see and buy are mascots made in China and bed linen made in Turkey.  Not only does this cause pollution from factories and shipping from abroad but Britain is barely going to benefit from the money generated by these orders.  Isn't the country in need of more jobs?  Wouldn't it be a great opportunity to show off our talent?

   

Isn't it a staggering oversight that our British government, along with 50 British business delegates, recently travelled all the way to China to promote British products, yet then failed to ensure that British made products were available in Britain at one of the biggest events on the world stage for a generation?!!  A golden opportunity like the Olympics comes along and somehow they manage to flood it with non-British made, mass produced goods for sale?!!  How crass is that? 

Yes, I know its all about big business and they need to make money, but don't the government keep going on about how they want to support entrepreneurs and small businesses and promote British products?  Isn't it time they did something about it?

I will be writing to my MP to ascertain whether there will be any opportunity for designer makers of British made goods to sell their wares and if not, why not.  Here on this page are a few gorgeous items made by British designers in Britain.  If we can't take advantage of promoting British talent at this fantastic opportunity, when can we?          

New Designers

This years New Designers Fair of graduate talent was brilliant and the standard of work excellent. Here are just a few of the thousands of examples of work that we saw!

The Wealth of Nations

Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776 and is regarded as one of the fathers of modern economics. His image is depicted on the new £20 note.  He laid the foundations for the basic principle of globalization/capitalism - the importance of free markets based on free competition.  It is often overlooked however, that he actually expressed grave reservations about untrammelled capitalism, especially the threat it posed to the public interest.

"The proposal of any new law or regulation which comes from [businessmen] ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted til after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous but with the most suspicious attention.  It comes from an order of men whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have upon many occasions both deceived and oppressed it."

Wise words indeed and as relevant today as then. I think he would be pretty horrified at the size, wealth and power of many corporations today. 

News has come in of Tesco's £3.4 billion pound profit and Terry Leahy's £5.2 million pay package.  Sir Terry was a lunch guest on Sunday of David Cameron the Prime Minister at Chequers, among a host of other retail leaders.  I hope the PM heeds the warning of Adam Smith.  I fear that the country is so debt ridden that business leaders will have more influence than perhaps they ought or is good for the public or the public purse.  Untrammelled capitalism benefits few people and those that it does are the very people the PM is lunching with.  Is it going to be a case of more of the same?