Why "Made in England" is important to me

Before starting my business I defined all the critical things that I wanted my future brand to represent. This included a fair and open working environment, ethical trading with suppliers and an ecological awareness on all the products we made, this was much easier to manage by using locally sourced product. The majority of our cards are hand printed in house, and all our products are hand packed in house so we can ensure things are dispatched looking perfect and with a personal touch. All our suppliers are close to us and have all become trusted business contacts who share our principles on ecological issues and staff welfare. This is what “Made in England” means to me.

It's important for us to help move the industry in the right direction; encourage others to take the Plastic Free by 2020 pledge and continue to research and develop new techniques that have a more sustainable future. While sometimes overseas production runs rings around the UK price wise, and as such we are sometimes limited in our choices - by using suppliers local to us, we can engage and form trusted relationships which is integral to the nature of our brand. Katie If you have a look at the back of one of our cards or notebooks, or on our pencils and wrap you will see the phrase “Made in England”. Firstly, despite the political limbo we find ourselves in, our pledge for local production is far from a political outcry but simply a way for us to ensure ethical processes are being met and our carbon footprint remains low. My awareness of ethical and ecological trading were very much present when I started the business so here's what Made in England means to me...

At university I studied Fashion & Textiles and discovered the detrimental effects that fast fashion has on the environment and the people involved, in fact this is what I wrote my dissertation on. After leaving University I started working in fair trade fashion. Working for an ethical and sustainable brand solidified my decision that if I did start my own company I would make sure the processes behind my products were transparent wherever possible and I would use local production to ensure carbon footprint was kept to a minimum and that I would be able to be present and involved with any outsourced production.