RECENT READING DIGEST

Apologies for the fact that the Weekly Digest has been anything but weekly of late. Here is a round up of some recent reading:

BAE System's Dick Olver on his manufacturing blueprint (Independent)

A visit to David Mellor's cutlery factory in Derbyshire (The Guild of Food Writers)

A video showing how a Loake shoe is made (Make it British)

And a date for your diary, this October there's an event called 'Best of Britannia' happening in London (BOB)

Juliet Barker, master violin maker (Another Something)

WEEKLY DIGEST

Another bumper week of articles on UK making:

An informative round-up on some of the companies making musical equipment in the UK. Including a handful of great quotes on why making in the UK is beneficial (Musical Instrument Professional)

Rolls-Royce: from the Trent engine to turbines; how the Midlands based engine manufacturer's success represents hope for the UK economy (Guardian)

A profile on Terry Coleman, one of the few umbrella makers left in the UK (Spitalfields Life)

Wirral based lighting manufacturer UKLED moves some production back to UK, citing power of 'Made in Britain' tag (The Manufacturer)

A thought provoking piece on craftsmanship (Drake's Diary)

The tiles at Bethnal Green underground station were made at the Poole Potteries in Dorset (Esoteric London)

Jaguar Land Rover to create 1,000 jobs in Solihull (Digital Manufacturing)

North-West manufacturers honoured at EEF regional awards ceremony (MEN Business)

UK manufacturing up in September (WSJ)

And a couple I missed yesterday:

Buy British: why isn't there a new campaign? (BBC)

New pottery museum for Stoke (BBC)

Image of Trent Engine from here

KEMBLE & CO : THE LAST UK PIANO MAKER

The second video from Carwell Casswell is of Kemble & Co, the last UK piano manufacturer, who closed in 2009. Another beautifully shot and edited film, albeit on the sad demise of a company founded in 1911.

ROYAL MAIL ROCKS

Stamps celebrating 'classic' British albums are to be released on 7th January 2010.

Designed by Studio Dempsey, the stamps showcase covers including the Rolling Stones' 1969 album 'Let It Bleed' by Robert Brownjohn and David Bowie's 1972 album 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars' by Main Artery.