Charlotte Metcalf is the Editor of Great British Brands and the co-presenter of Break Out Culture, a weekly podcast with former Minister of Culture, Lord Vaizey. She is also a film-maker, author and journalist. Every week she’ll be reporting on cultural events, exhibitions, fairs and publications that are of interest to the communities of craftsmen we represent and celebrate, with a particular focus on goldsmiths and silversmiths.
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Earlier this month, as the editor of the annual publication Great British Brands, I was privileged to co-host a glamorous evening for 350 people at Tramp to celebrate our 2023 Awards for excellence. Our judges were Jamila Saidi, Global Head of Digital Commerce, Retail and Luxury at the Department for International Trade, Dylan Jones, well-known cultural polymath and former editor of GQ, Jamie Gill, fashion and luxury advisor and Executive Director of Roksanda and Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council, who presented the awards. It was a joy to see British brand representatives having so much fun having experienced an extraordinary well-document amount of recent upheaval.
Despite the multiple challenges all British brands have faced, being quintessentially British is more of an asset than ever, as our event amply demonstrated. Witness the everlasting appeal of a Savile Row suit or a pair of gentlemen’s shoes, renowned the world over for their robust reliability. While Northampton is famous for its shoe factories, John Smedley, which won our award for Championing Craftship, is still manufacturing where it started in the world’s oldest factory in Derbyshire. This continuity has served to underpin confidence and pride in the brand’s mission, defined well over 200 years ago, to design and produce the world’s finest knitwear.
The John Smedley Factory – Photo Credit: John Smedley (both images above)
Website: www.johnsmedley.com
We gave an award for Achieving the Next Level, in recognition of a brand that had excelled against all odds, won by Bremont for its phenomenal contribution to British manufacturing. In 2002, brothers Giles and Nick English set out to make beautifully crafted pilots’ watches, of exceptional quality and tested beyond endurance on British soil, with the bigger aim of reinvigorating the nation’s proud horological past. 20 years later in 2022, Bremont opened The Wing, its 35,000 sq ft Manufacturing and Technology Centre in Henley-on-Thames and last year launched its H1 Generation of watches. The HI Generation represents a triumphant milestone in Bremont’s goal of being the first watch brand, since Smiths in the 1960’s, to manufacture watch movements at scale in the UK. Bremont’s 2023 focus will continue to be expanding its manufacturing capacity. ‘Our mission was always to reignite this once booming British industry,’ says Giles English, ‘and now it’s truly happening, heralding a new era for volume British watchmaking.’
Bremont Watchmakers – Photo Credit: Bremont (including image at top of page)
Website: www.bremont.com
Bremont’s non-compromising approach towards achieving British-made excellence echoes that of Thomas Lyte’s own founder, Kevin Baker. Unable to find a factory to craft silver and gold to the high standard he aspired to, he built his own in London and attracted the best craftspeople in their field. The Royal Warrant holders, goldsmiths and silversmiths to the Late Queen Elizabeth II, have now established themselves as world-renowned bespoke silverware and gold specialists. Their fine silver workshops are considered to be among the largest in Europe. Kevin Baker’s determination to ignite a true sense of pride in British silver and gold making has more than paid off and Thomas Lyte goes from strength to strength.
Thomas Lyte’s fine silver workshops in London.
In the same way, two young entrepreneurs have set up Savile Row’s first ever shoe factory – and London’s first for over a century. Arthur Sleep has sourced equipment from all over the world to create exquisite hand-made shoes on site in just three hours. No other shoe maker has a factory like it, able to transform a material of your choice – be it cashmere, tartan or your own horse’s saddle – into a beautiful, comfortable pair of shoes made to last. Needless to say, they’ve even thought of investing in a Californian ‘nano-spray’ that ensures your shoes are ‘party and battle ready’.
Brands that have had to manufacture on a smaller scale closer to home are now reaping the benefits, and given my job, I know the talent and craftsmanship that the British luxury industry represents. Yet on a global stage we struggle to be perceived as having brands as aspirational as, say, Hermès, Dior or Chanel, with the notable exception of Rolls-Royce, forever used as a benchmark for excellence internationally. If people stopped being dazzled by the big global brands and started paying closer attention to our homegrown talents, they’d quickly be reminded of and cheered by our long history of unrivalled quality.
Brands who have put themselves on the line to manufacture here, should take courage from each other. Anyone still in any doubt about the clout of a made-in-britain label should talk to Tom Davies, maker of bespoke glasses and sunglasses. In 2017 he moved his manufacturing back from China to his Brentford factory and saw sales in China burgeon, proof that a British-made stamp represented guaranteed quality. Indeed, our judges gave Tom Davies an Honourable Mention for Achieving the Next Level.
Tom Davies Workshops – Photo Credit: (all above) Tom Davies
Website: www.tdtomdavies.com
Brits have always produced exquisitely crafted pieces that people feel an emotional attachment to, from a Purdey rifle to a Wedgwood teacup. We’ve retained that sense of rarity that the multinationals flanking Bond Street no longer do. We also have stringent standards in place to guarantee quality, and any brand in proud possession of a Royal Warrant – as Thomas Lyte is – knows how many hoops need to be jumped through to gain and retain that honour.
Our favourite quote from the Great British Brand Awards 2023:
The essence of a great British brand is that it’s well-made locally, lasts and does not kowtow to fashion. Even our best-loved fashion brands are sought after for their wit and rebellious streak – take the revolutionary iconoclast herself, Vivienne Westwood, whose globally admired brand received our Legacy Award. In a moving tribute to Vivienne’s unmatched talent and legacy, Global Brand Director Christopher Di Pietro reminded us all to follow in her steps by ‘Buying Less – Buying Better’. As we move into 2023, let’s hope it’s the year in which it becomes evident to all that buying British is definitely buying better.
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Note from the editor: Thank you so much to Charlotte Metcalf for the invitation to the Great British Brand Awards night so eloquently unpacked above. We had a wonderful time! I’d like to also thank our fellow British manufacturers that provided the beautiful imagery for Charlotte’s exploratory article.
Read about our press mentions and awards for the project
We have selected a number of case studies that demonstrate the broad range of our capabilities designing and making in precious metals.
