A clutch of people have made their fortunes in the feral world of e-cigs and vaping. How much longer will the party last now new rules and big tobacco are entering the fray? Shops filled with smoke and neon lights have become a common feature on UK high streets over the last five years. As the vaping phenomenon has swept …
Big in Japan: How Neuba manages transcontinental clothing sales and production.
A British clothing startup, Neuba, has found itself sandwiched between a fashionable Japanese customer base on one side and traditional Indian weavers on the other. Neuba makes casual shirts and t-shirts using a team of eight weavers based in the Indian city of Hyderabad. The highly analogue nature of the production process has been a hit among a niche Japanese …
Can the UK build a world-beating furniture industry?
The British furniture industry lags behind Europeans despite a wealth of design talent. Why? It’s perhaps an interesting time to reflect on the fact that Europeans simply do some things better than Britain and in a way that we would do well to learn from. This includes the making and selling of furniture. It’s a sore point for individuals in the …
Home from home
More time is spent at work than at home and yet few people devote the care and attention to their nine-to-five space that gets lavished on where they crash out after hours. Here, seven people who have created spaces especially conducive to working explain what they love about their ‘office’. We also speak to a workspace designer about what makes …
Will new generations wear watches?
More than half of 16-34 year-olds use a mobile phone as their main way to tell the time, according to a YouGov poll. With this generation expected to outspend baby boomers by 2017, attracting the business of the sector is viewed as the watch industry’s biggest challenge. And that’s even before considering the impact of wearable tech. The Apple Watch was …
The British watchmakers taking on the Swiss giants
A fresh crop of British brands are trying to break into the notoriously old-fashioned world of watchmaking. How will they tackle criticisms of heritage mining and new protectionist measures from the Swiss watch industry – not to mention the impact of an updated offering from Apple? The world’s watch industry gathered recently in Switzerland for Baselworld, where hot topics included …
Supply crisis: How avian flu hit outdoor equipment businesses
What happens when the product your business relies upon suffers a sudden drop in supply? 20 March 2016 That’s exactly what happened when avian flu wiped out a huge chunk in the world’s supply of goose down feathers in 2013. During this time, PHD, a small firm in Harrogate that produces high-end jackets and sleeping bags for expedition climbers thanked the …
The copycat conundrum
Bare Conductive discovered a factory in China that was copying its designs and even its logo and name. What were the options for this little east London startup? Chinese knock-offs have been a curse to designers all over the world. Some of the biggest brands have been engaged in a losing game of whack-a-mole, shutting down one offending factory only …