At the British Design Fund we celebrate, support and invest in the very best of the UK’s design skills – the founders and inventors who see a problem, understand what the user needs, and create something that not only fulfils a real need, but does so in an effective and rewarding way.
To date, we’ve been pragmatic about where the product enterprises in which we invest, choose to base their manufacturing. However, recently we have been seeing a shift from Asia Pacific back to UK for key value add elements of manufacturing. It would appear that this shift is more than just a hangover from the Covid lockdowns, which resulted in many companies being unable to access Chinese factories in person.
Inevitably, in some circumstances, there will be no other viable option … but the risk and uncertainty, the increasing manufacturing and shipping costs and the need for founders to be able to access critical parts of their manufacturing process have all encouraged businesses to seriously consider the advantages of manufacturing here in the UK.
That’s why we are very pleased to be partnering with Made in Britain. They bring together the British manufacturing community and do a huge amount to promote the benefits of the design, engineering, tooling and manufacturing skills to be found on our shores.
Amongst other things we are doing with Made In Britain, we have a series of webinars underway and the latest of them featured two of our investee companies who have made the choice to make their (albeit very different) products here in the UK.
Adam Root, Founder and CEO of Matter – www.matter.industries – talks about the ‘True cost’ of manufacturing, the challenges and unseen costs you face when tooling and making abroad when you can pop up the road to sort out a problem. He also talks about the need to factor in People, Planet and Profit when making a decision about where to base production.
Sam Jackman, Founder and CEO of Boost – www.wewearboost.com – talks compellingly about the benefits of working locally in ‘making pods’, where you can take a different view of how to make things and keep hold of the core values of the enterprise you have founded.
To listen to the whole webinar download the link here: https://youtu.be/dCq-aHm4aRQ
The British Design Fund works with ambitious British product start-ups who are ready to scale-up and build thriving stand-out businesses. Alongside capital investment, BDF provides expert mentoring to support such companies to accelerate their growth plans.
The fifth British Design Fund is now open to investors and will be closing at the end of March 2023, to learn more click here; www.britishdesignfund.co.uk/invest/.
