How to buy the best of British this Black Friday
Want to do all of your Christmas shopping with UK brands, but don’t have time to scour the country? Caroline Leaper has some tips
The independent British designer Fiona Clare gets a little boost every time an order is placed in her online shop. “I go up and down with worrying about the business,” she admits. “But then an order comes through, and I’ll be really excited.”
Can you imagine the same sort of reaction happening at, say, a giant, multinational e-tailer today, this Black Friday, as a robotic arm picks your presents off the shelf ?
As a customer who has attempted to shop exclusively British for almost a month now, I can attest that the Google searching does take longer, the delivery windows are less reliable and, overall, each order placed probably costs me a few pounds more than it might have if I had opted to shop with a hyper-fast, mega-cheap, world-dominating alternative.
But there is a feeling of satisfaction that comes with each package that arrives – the knowledge that I’m spending with a local business, and that my Christmas shopping might go some way to saving a few more Brits from redundancies come January.
After a year like no other, the British retail industry is on its knees, with store closures and mass lay-offs happening across the high street. Yet in a Yougov survey conducted in July, 64 per cent of Brits said that after the spring lockdown, they wanted to support local businesses and products.
Want to buy less, buy better quality, and buy British? Now’s the time to put our money where our mouths are, as pausing to think before piling all of your Christmas shopping into one big virtual basket this Black Friday could make a huge difference.
“A business owner’s greatest gift this Christmas could be you discovering their brand and shopping with them for the first time,” says Tara Capp, founder of British lifestyle brand Truly, noting that spreading your spending across multiple companies is the best thing you can do to help. “I do understand that convenience is key. But try to share the love and explore other small British brands who offer fantastic and affordable products and would welcome you with open arms into their community.”
To shop successfully this way, you need to think beyond the obvious. When running through someone’s Christmas list, particularly children’s, there will be some items that are easy to find at an alternative, British-based online shop. It can be as simple as ordering the toys on their list from The Entertainer, or the books you know they wanted from WH Smith, or Bookshop.org, which unites the stock of local bookshops in Britain on one website. But some of the best items I’ve found so far (and the ones that will make the most memorable presents) have taken a little more research.
So far, I’ve sent homemade brownies by post to people I won’t see, from Gower Cottage Brownies in Swansea, and bought customised cards from The Papercut Emporium in Ellesmere.
I’ve swerved an incident with my sister-in-law, who Whatsapped links to a big online store selling toy wooden tea sets for my three-year-old niece. I found similar ones sold by Jojo Maman Bébé – sounds French, but is in fact based in Newport, employing around 800 people. Even the toy biscuits were Jammy Dodgers and custard creams.
What has been more tricky is to guarantee that products, as well as coming from British-based companies, were also made in Britain. For the purists (or the patriots) attempting this retail challenge, shopping online is difficult, as most retailers do not state the country of manufacture in their product description.
All of the items pictured on this page have been made in Britain. Along the way I’ve found amazing small brands to recommend, from PJ Pan, which makes its luxury men’s, women’s and children’s pyjamas in Anglesey, to the St Eval Candle Company, making beautiful scented candles, reed diffusers and soaps from a farm in north Cornwall.
For anyone who doesn’t feel they have the time to hunt for British-made treasures, I’d suggest Etsy and Trouva websites, which let you filter by the location of the maker. The former is particularly good for crafty stocking stuffers, such as handmade jewellery from Peaches and Tea in Newbury, or custom garden signage by Oneday Woodshop in Huddersfield.
Over this weekend, I plan to whittle off most of what’s left on my list, not because there are unmissable offers to be had, but because I know that smaller companies typically need longer lead times and some will be (hopefully) inundated with orders.
The micro-retailers are important, but the big British brands are, too. Even if it’s not possible to find everything you’re after with a tiny local firm, it will still count some way towards “doing your bit” if you shop at Next, Marks & Spencer, John Lewis & Partners, Liberty, Selfridges and so on, all of which have struggled, and employ thousands around the UK.
This isn’t a charity campaign. There’s no need to buy things you don’t want or need, nor to spend more than you intended. But, rather than contributing to the crippling, unsustainable Black Friday race to the bottom this year, actions like this may just provide an antidote.