Made In Britain Workshop
Helping Britain’s Manufacturers Sell More With One Marque
We hosted our first Made in Britain workshop at our factory in Northamptonshire on Wednesday 22nd November, and we had a wonderful day at Ideal HQ. Thanks very much to MadeinBritainGB & all the lovely makers who came to visit & share their stories. We met some really nice people, learned a whole lot and it was an absolute pleasure to show you all around our factory…
As an early adopter of the marque, we’ve been prominent supporters of the Made in Britain campaign since March 2014. So, we were delighted to be invited to host the first ever #MIBworkshop in Northants for local Midlands-based businesses – and we were determined to squeeze them into our mid-century training room – ply them with tea and cakes (home-baked by the mother of our Accounts Manager, Helen) and tell them our British manufacturing story.
Over 25 local manufacturers from Made in Britain’s portfolio of #1000makers signed up to visit Ideal HQ and the one day workshop gave local businesses the chance to network and learn from industry experts with the emphasis on provenance marketing, export and how to tell the story of your brand with passion, transparency and a little soul. The workshop was chaired by Made in Britain CEO, John Pearce, with guests including Graham Welsh (UK Sales Director for The King of Shaves Company), Stephen Tokley from SME Crown Representative’s Head of Office, John Harrison from Lloyds Bank, Suzy Bolton from Dept. for International Trade, Christine Cawthorne from Crocstar and the final presentation from Ideal’s MD, Phillip Kalli.
What is Made In Britain?
John Pearce (Made In Britain CEO) explains it best:
“The Made in Britain Campaign is not political. It’s a campaign about places, products and the endeavours of the many people who love making them… People who make things have a collaborative nature that other businesses can learn from. And there are lots of ways manufacturers make a positive impact in their community and their product sector as they grow and employ more local people. The diversity of our members’ products is inspirational; we should be proud to place the Made in Britain marque permanently onto our goods.”
What does it mean to be Made in Britain?
Phillip Kalli explains:
We believe customers want to know more about their products and where they come from – and even about the people who make them. I know I do!
More than that, operating a transparent manufacturing operation and supply model is important to us – we’re proud to be a family run, independent, British manufacturer – it sets us apart. There’s no other laundry detergent manufacturer quite like us. It’s more than just an identifier – we are trading on the notion that it means something to make products in Britain. But… It’s not jingoistic flag waving! It’s not about Brexit! It’s most definitely not political! We believe in collaborating with, selling to and buying from our neighbours on the continent as they want to do likewise with us. For example, we share knowledge and collaborate with manufacturing companies with similar brand values, such as Ghidini in Milan and Girbau in Barcelona.
For Ideal, at least… the marque is about provenance, transparency, personality and the very British idiosyncrasies of our particular brand…We are creating long term local employment, careers, opportunities and genuinely trying to innovate in our sector. The logo also looks great on our products!
John Pearce, CEO of Made in Britain, who is on a mission to keep all Made in Britain events focused entirely on sales and hosted at the premises of its members, continues:
“There’s never been a better time for British manufacturers to tell their story at home and abroad. With this series of marketing and sales workshops, Made in Britain wants to create the most ambitious platform to bring together experts in the field of provenance marketing and export sales, so our members can achieve more with the Made in Britain marque.
One of the attendees of the workshop, Sara Fisher from Dura Workshop Systems wrote:
“Where else could you encounter shaving products, laundry detergent, coffee machines, copper tubing and steel furniture producers all on the same day! The highlight was the fascinating story of the delightful Ideal Manufacturing bird, a very interesting tour of the Ideal factory and some delicious cakes! Thank you for hosting such a brilliant day.”
“I just wanted to say it was an absolute pleasure to meet you, Darren and the team. I love the little bird and the gifs, very creative indeed! Great stories, I’m clearly inspired. Well done”
The whole day was captured on film by MIBs film crew, with an edit due for release on the Made In Britain website early in 2018. We’ll post it here as soon as it’s ready.
