Tuesday 2 March 2010

My MANy Bags News #200




HRH the Duke of York visited the Mulberry Factory in Chilcompton, Somerset

When a brand appreciates and invests in the artisanal skills of manufacturing at their place of origin, the effort is commendable and much welcomed. Mulberry has set up an apprentice programme to support the brand's wish to retain and increase the level of manufacturing based in the UK - a rarity in industry today. This effort resulted in their Chilcompton, Somerset factory being one of the largest of its kind for accessories manufacture, producing 30% of Mulberry’s handbags that are sold worldwide.

On Tuesday 02 March HRH the Duke of York visited the Mulberry Factory in Chilcompton, Somerset.

The visit was arranged for HRH The Duke of York to see Mulberry’s successful apprentice programme and investment in developing craft skills.

The apprentice programme developed with Skillfast, the learning and skills council (LSC) and Bridgwater College has rebalanced an ageing workforce – which has resulted in waiting lists of over 70 young people wanting to join the Company’s production line – and supported the introduction of lean manufacturing techniques at the factory.

Does this mean more Mulberry bags will get to be manufactured in UK? I for one, supports the effort, no bag is better than the ones manufactured in the brand's country of origin. I have always loved my UK made large Bayswater and Piccadilly!

Source: Mulberry

5 comments:

oh fudge said...

I checked out the brown, leopard print, Alexa bag at the online store.

It's GONE! I went to the Mulberry store here. It's GONE too!

eek!

Kevin @ myMANybags said...

Oh yes, it seems the bag sells out so fast anywhere... Mulberry hit a jackpot this season with Alexa.

Kevin @ myMANybags said...

Oh yes, it seems the bag sells out so fast anywhere... Mulberry hit a jackpot this season with Alexa.

Anonymous said...

you do realise that mulberry is about as british as you... i am from london and mulberry deserted their heritage, as soon as christina ong took it over against its will. fact. and this is clearly nothing more than a marketing pr stunt... 30% is relatively insignificant. so please try to be more savvy as consumers what you are actually buying into.

Kevin @ myMANybags said...

Well, at least it retains the jobs in UK:-) Brands are having touch competition these days and they are being bought over by big investors to gain more financial backing. Just like what Gucci did on Balenciaga, which is a french fashion house. And Lanvin is majority owned by a Taiwanese woman. But does that make Balenciaga and Lanvin less of a french brand. Look how successful these brands are now. I believe it is what the brand is doing to uphold its heritage that's more important, not who owns it. Hopefully, Mulberry will get back more of its English roots thru more of these efforts and time:-).

Cross our fingers!:-)