WEEKLY DIGEST

UK manufacturing skills a lure for luxury brands (Reuters)

Report compiled by JCB chairman calls for UK 'manufacturing tsar' (FT)

Hand framing at Corgi (The Gentleman's Corner)

An interview with the boss of David Nieper, a nightwear company based in Derbyshire (Telegraph)

Lighting company Thorn announces new UK manufacturing plans (The Manufacturer)

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Photo from Factory Visit no.3 : Globe Trotter

INSIDE THE BROMPTON FACTORY : PHOTOS BY FRED MACGREGOR

Some very nice photos of the Brompton factory, taken by Fred MacGregor. It's interesting to see that he took photos of many of the same things as when M&I visited last spring. Although, I hasten to add that his photos are far superior, obviously.

MacGregor's website is well worth spending some time on. Some beautiful landscape and architectural photography alongside some interesting projects such as 'Artisans'.

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found via Sargent and Co. (a bicycle shop in north London with an excellent blog)

For the full set of photos from the M&I visit to the Brompton factory, please see here

WEEKLY DIGEST

A (rather clothing centric) round up of recent stories of note:

Oliver Spencer and GF Smith (OEN) - video above

Christopher Raeburn and 'Made in Britain' (Vogue)

Britain's Heritage Heroes at the Portland Works, Sheffield (BBC)

At the Corgi knitwear factory, Wales (Permanent Style)

British manufacturing under the spotlight at London Fashion Week (Make it British)

Interview with Nigel Cabourn (OEN)

GRAYSON PERRY ON CRAFT & AUTHENTICITY

I finally made it down to the British Museum yesterday to see the much lauded Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman exhibition by Grayson Perry.

A couple of quotes stood out:

'Craftsmen make artefacts they think will appeal to visitors from abroad. Sometimes they get it wrong in a charming way. Creativity is often just mistakes.'

'I love fakes for they make us think about what it is we see in the authentic. About how much of our awe in front of a great historical artefact is in its inherent beauty and how much is to do with its auspicious provenance.'

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The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman runs until the 26th February 2012. (Note that tickets are now near impossible to come by, but don't let that stop you trying - it is as good as the reviews say.)

Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Europe from Zimbio

INNOVATION IN FACTORIES

"Innovation doesn't just happen in laboratories by researchers. It happens on the factory floor. The process of making stuff helps you experiment and produce new products. If everything is made in China, people there will gain the skills, knowledge and experience to innovate. And we will be left behind."

Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical Co., and author of Make it in America, in Time Magazine, February 6, 2012, p25.

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Footnote: Obviously Mr Liveris' quote was not intended to be applied to Britain. However, I do think it is pertinent.

Photo from the Brompton factory visit, taken in March 2011

WEEKLY DIGEST

Interview with Frank Naish, an award winning cider maker from Somerset (Intelligent Life)

A short interview with Julie Deane, founder of the Cambridge Satchel Company (mydaily)

Alice Rawsthorn on the new London bus, design nostalgia and the industrial revolution (NYT)

Rolls-Royce boss believes Britain needs more manufacturing heroes (Telegraph)

Niche products and the modern face of British manufacturing (FT)

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Photo of Frank Naish by Nick Ballon, from Intelligent Life

MAX LAMB ON HANDMADE CRAFTSMANSHIP

"The communication is a really important part of it, the object doesn't always speak for itself... Although I try to make it as visible as possible; the process used to get to the end result is understandable just by looking at the object... But when you support the physical object with a documentary of how it was made, immediately people can engage with it on a deeper level... understanding how the raw material was transformed in to a functional object."

Max Lamb on handmade craftsmanship, via Protein

WEEKLY DIGEST

An interview with Irish basket weaver Kathleen McCormick (Makers & Brothers)

British manufacturers enjoyed a strong start to 2012 (Guardian)

British manufacturers (including Numatic, makers of Henry vacuum cleaners) are moving production of components back to the UK in a trend known as 'reshoring' (FT)

90% of London 2012 Olympics merchandise made abroad (Telegraph)

Also, on a related note: according to this article in Time, if Americans spent $3.33 on US made products each week, almost 10,000 new jobs would be created. I wonder if it is a similar story here in Britain.

Inside the Cooper & Stollbrand factory, Manchester (Selectism)

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For further UK manufacturing stories, see Make it British's round up of the recent retail and fashion news

Photo of Kathleen McCormick from Makers & Brothers

FURNITURE MAKER ANOTHER COUNTRY ON THE TRIALS OF MANUFACTURING IN THE UK

Sight Unseen (a blog that shares a similar fascination with products, processes and the people behind them) has an interview with Another Country founder Paul de Zwart. The main topic of conversation is the restrictions caused by a commitment to solely manufacturing in the UK.

Since launching in 2010, Another Country has developed its product range from just furniture, in to a growing range of accessories. However, the growth of the company has forced it to shift the production of certain items abroad, as de Zwart explains:

“We’re still able make to commissions and one-offs in the Dorset workshop — and the materials are sourced from places like Devon, Scotland and Surrey — but in terms of the production items, they’re made in Portugal. We’ve come to realize that it’s very hard to balance provenance and the romantic notion of keeping things close to home when you actually need to have a reliable, sustainable manufacturer who can deliver the goods on time, at a proper price, and at a consistent quality. It had become almost impossible for me to grow the business short of only selling direct to the consumer.”

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Photo of Another Country studio from Sight Unseen

PAPER PROCESS: GF SMITH x STRATHMORE

A somewhat mesmerising video by Stephen M Fisher showing some of the processes used in the making of different paper types at GF Smith.

(via It's Nice That)