I really am trying to buy British.

British made Ercol is usually made to order in their Buckinghamshire factory. They do have a factory shop which has seconds and is good value.

the ercol site gives origins and the hartwell also originates in china. So much for ercol

Bedside tables. Ercol rimini, john lewis, drat, they originate from china and turkey. I won`t be buying

Ercol is a British company and they still make some of the classic products from the 50s and 60s. They are really well made. However, some of the Ercol designs sold in John Lewis are made in China, so you have to be careful - check the Ercol website. I like retro furniture and have bought original Ercol from ebay which are in great condition and much better than some of the Chinese made new tat. Clothing is difficult, I make a lot of my own , but buying British made fabric is difficult, you can make Italian and French designed and made though. Not buying so much stuff in the first place is the way to go.

I bought some face masks in Tesco s a couple of weeks ago and later noticed they had been made in China. I couldn’t believe it!

I have just bought a new washing line. It was for my friend who took one back because it was made in China. It was made a few miles up the road. Bolton.

I try to buy British and try to buy local but like others here I don’t always find it easy. Recently I needed a replacement part for my tap - Wicks, B&Q, Homebase, local bits and pieces shop -none of them had the right size. Germany-instant supply.
It’s the same abroad though. If you try and buy something that looks locally made as a gift ‘made in France’ or even ‘made in Switzerland, there is often that sneaky little sticker saying ‘fabriqué en Chine’ or ‘fabriqué en Inde’

I love goats cheese and have always bought a French variety. I now buy Welsh goats cheese and very nice it is too. I am trying really hard to support the UK economy. I think we all need to do this if we can.

We have always tried to buy British. I’ve just ordered 2 sofas from James and Rose.

We’ve been buying from a local butcher who also has a deli counter with local produce. Food tastes so much better.

I thought I was buying British recently from eBay. As mentioned above there was a tiny made in China sticker and when I double checked the words “country of origin” had been removed from the listing.

I agree Bijou. It baffles and sickens me when i see supermarkets selling meat produced in Brazil. I only buy the meat with a red tractor on and British reared and produced . Meat, eggs and dairy are the easiest British products to buy for a good start.

I run a furniture shop and we specialise in British Made furniture - upholstery and cabinet. We have some fantastic manufacturers who make fabulous products and they often aren't more expensive. I know a person who worked at a shop where they expected 40% of the contents of every container of furniture they received to be unsaleable, so it ended up going straight to landfill. Appalling! I love it when people ask where our stock comes from - but it doesn't happen often enough.

Last year when blackberries were in season I was surprised to find that a major supermarket was importing them from Chile. I complained but got no feed back. A similar thing happened when asparagus was in season here they were importing that from Chile.
Why do we have to import tomatoes from Holland when we have the same climate as that country could enable us to grow them ourselves.

Yertiz

makeitbritish.co.uk/made-in-britain/.

Thanks for the link, I’ve saved it to My Favourites so I can go straight to it whenever I need to

My Father always said ‘ if you buy foreign goods - you’re effectively buying unemployment’ - how wise and prescient ☝️

I was trying to buy a sunlounger in the sales. Those that mention country of origin at all were made in China. I looked specifically for made in UK - cost over £400 and up to £4000, gulp! I will not buy Chinese-made goods any more though so I'll save up and in the meantime make do with a throw on the grass. I can't believe the amount of things in my house already that are made in China or the number of items that say confusingly and perhaps deceitfully 'designed in Britain, UK etc' but are actually made abroad. Went in Seasalt yesterday and half the 'designed-in-Cornwall' clothes were made in China but they are clearly marked so we can make an easy choice, unlike the huge online seller that thinks it's okay not to have a 'Made in' column in the description. If I don't know I won't buy. However, I have just bought some Sheffield-made scissors and a spade, things just take a bit more finding, and I know for sure I'll look after them better!

A lovely lady in our area was making masks and donating a percentage too the hospice. No profit to herself and very time consuming, she was even delivering.
When she was highlighted in the local paper a number of people slated her for being overpriced compared to those sold in Primark etc. Disgusting the society we live in sometimes. It really put her off but thankfully due to demand she has had to start making and donating again.

I too always try to buy British.
But I struggle with the foreign workers on low wages problem. If we all stop supporting these dreadful sweatshop places and they go out of business, aren't we then depriving the workers of a job, perhaps meaning a family has no income at all?
If a child-worker is prevented from working because we have influenced a foreign government to pass a law making it illegal it might mean another family has no income eiher.
Its not at all straightforward.

I wanted a large dressmaking ruler and wanted to buy British. I paid £20 for one in UK. When it came it was exactly the same as one I could`ve bought on ebay for £8 and yeh..made in China.

We cant win!

I don't feel it is very fair to cite Martin Lewis for encouraging us to buy cheap. He aims at people who are struggling with their finances helping tgem get on track. The root of buying junk from the Far East started in the 1970s. Young people today have not been educated to think where products come from by their consumer obsessed parents.
Supermarkets have a massive role in promoting mass produced garbage like the Halloween products that will be flooding the shelves as we write.
If Covid-19 can do one good thing it would be to slow down consumerism and make everyone think about what they are buying and where it is from.

Yes just paid £5 for a mask made by a local tailor, having just refused to buy one made in China for half the price. As an earlier gran said, adding insult to injury. Unfortunately you sometimes have to be able to afford your principles and not everyone can.

There is a very well known clothing company who trade on their Cornish association. Their clothes are made in China. I love their products, but having been caught out, will not be purchasing any in the future.

Thanks for the sofa sofa tip, evansgg. I’ve just had a look at their website and was very impressed, especially with the prices for something made in Britain. It just goes to show that it can be done.

20 years ago I bought 2 two seater sofas made inSouth Wales. The cost under £500. Due to down sizing these have gone to local refurbishing centre who are amazed at how well made they are. Company now trade as sofa sofa .
While sorting skin care products checked where they were made. Mainly in E.U.even recently bought ones. Surely Uk can produce skin care products and cosmetics at competitive prices.

My DD went on a business trip to Japan a few years ago and bought me a beautiful fan as a gift. When I'd been using it for a few days I read the small label on the box - yes you guessed it - 'Made in China'. At the time I found it quite funny but now I'm realising that pretty much everything is made there!

There's no easy answer to this as turning away from a predominantly manufacturing economy, as Britain once was, and becoming a predominantly service economy will not be easy to reverse. It will become an increasing problem as we approach a no-deal Brexit as many more imports will have tariffs added to the cost. Those of us on low incomes are not always able to choose to buy British as the cost of goods is the significant factor. However buying from local shops should help our local economies even if the goods on sale are cheap imports.