All Mix Blog

Limited edition Minis to be decked out with Rolls Royce interior touches Reasonable Royal Wedding product alert: Stoke brewery partners with pottery to produce ceramic bottle Life at the Dyson R&D dept sounds pretty fun Retailer to fund UK manufacturing apprenticeships First new MG in 16 years rolls off production line at Longbridge, Birmingham

We found this old football programme at an excellent bric-a-brac shop near Tonbridge station over the weekend. The cover design makes use of an Acme whistle. Does anyone know if today's referees use the Acme Thunderer ? Also of interest were the adverts - feeling peckish?

'While it is unrealistic to expect UK manufacturing to return to the 24% of GDP it generated in the 1980s, with sterling at a competitive rate and our property and financial services sectors hit particularly hard in the recession, there is real potential for this share to grow. In order to do so it is important for the UK to recognise, celebrate and promote our successes and comparative advantages in manufacturing.' From the British Chambers of Commerce Manufacturing for Export report. 'If in comparison to many other developed economies, British manufacturing is not in quite the poor shape many at home and abroad assume , we must question how such a perception came about. One of the most noticeable reasons for this has been because of a major reduction in those employed within the manufacturing industries. While the 2.6m people currently employed within UK manufacturing is far more than the 1m currently working in financial services, it is far less than the 6.9m manufactu...

An enjoyably positive story to kick off December here . The Highgate Brewery in Walsall has been saved (for the time being) and is hoping to benefit from customers drinking at home over the Christmas period after a surge in demand for its five litre festive cask ales. The wonderfully named Joanne Toon, spokeswoman for Highgate, told the Birmingham Post, ' It is keeping us afloat after a traumatic time, but we are determined to be able to supply everyone.' A quick online search for a retailer selling the festive ale proved fruitless. However, there's some nice merchandise available here on the Friends of Highgate Brewery site. Photo from Express & Star

Birmingham has received a sizeable amount of column inches over the last couple of weeks, mostly spurred by the Cameron chat. A good consequence of this has been the focus on manufacturing in the area, epitomised by this story from the BBC. The future of Jaguar Land Rover's Solihull plant had never been in doubt, according to Gerard Coyne, regional secretary of Unite, due to it being the 'ancestral home' of the car maker. Workers at the plant were clearly relieved. 'It's better than good. It's far more than we could have expected and I am gobsmacked,' said (the brilliantly named) Mick Jones, a paint shop worker from Erdington, Birmingham. We enjoyed reading the comments from other workers here too.

A piece in the Financial Times caught our eye today: ' MG, the Birmingham based carmaker will begin producing its first new car in 15 years, and from 2011 relaunch in the UK as a 'value' brand .' 'We've got to get across the ideas of having a great past with a bright, exciting future,' Guy Jones, MG Motor's UK sales and marketing director told John Reed of the FT. According to the FT, if the new MG6 model proves successful then production at the Longbridge site will be increased, giving new life to the site that was once one of Europe's largest car plants. Image from Old Classic Car

Two stories have caught the eye over the last week or so. The Financial Times reported that luxury goods houses are lamenting the lack of skills amongst workers. Meanwhile, Katie Allen in The Observer wrote about politicians competing to support the manufacturing sector . Allen's article touches on the lack of skilled workers in the UK today. Picture credit: Humphrey Spender/Getty Images (Employees at the Austin car factory in Birmingham in 1939.)

South Londoner James Bowthorpe cycled around the world last year. He completed the 18,000 mile ride across 20 countries in less than six months, beating the world record by 20 days. He also raised a sizeable amount of money for What’s Driving Parkinson’s, a research clinic at King’s College Hospital in London in the process. Obviously, cycling over 100 miles a day for half a year requires a quality saddle so it was no surprise to read this in The Financial Times (Weekend of 19/20th September 2009): 'I'm sitting on a Brooks saddle that I have had for about 10 years. If you have time to wear one in and are prepared to do a minimum of upkeep (rubbing in a spot of dubbin every now and then) they're unbeatable.' Image from the fantastic website of Mr. Jim Langley (although we do advise readers to turn the volume down when visiting).

In 1886 Birmingham photographer John Collier documented the Exhibition of Local Manufactures and Natural History. The selection of exhibits was limited 'to the leading manufacturers in their respective branches, or to any firm producing a speciality, with the view of showing the great variety of trades, and the excellence of work produced.' We were very disappointed to learn that we missed a mini-retrospective of the original exhibition last year. However, the accompanying booklet, created by Brighton-based Studio Makgill , is enough to whet the appetite.

The conservative councillors of Bournville believe that Cadbury should remain independent. 'Cadbury is one of the last remaining great British manufacturing companies. The company has made a huge contribution to the social history of Britain and, over the last 100 years, has made an incalculable contribution to the improvement of working conditions in this country,' a petition sent to local residents states. Councillors Dawkins, Huxtable and Evans believe that Kraft has little interest in Bournville, citing the American monolith's takeover of Terry's of York as reason for concern. 'In 1993... they made many promises about future employment and production. In 2005 Kraft closed the historic Terry's factory and moved all chocolate production to Slovakia.' Pictures from the wonderful Cadbury Dairy Milk flickr resource.

We were delighted to see that the esteemed cycling magazine, Rouleur, recently visited tube manufacturer Reynolds. In an article that spans fourteen pages, Guy Andrews reveals a great deal on the company's history and manufacturing process. The birth of Reynolds stems back to 1841 when Mr. John Reynolds started out as a nail manufacturer in Birmingham. By 1898 the predecessor to today's bicycle tubing company was formed, The Patent Butted Tube Co., Ltd. During the second World War Reynolds made tubes for Spitfire fuselages and employed more than 2,000 people. The 531 steel tube set, first produced in 1935, is still being made today. Keith Noronha, managing director of Reynolds, reveals how the quality of tubing being produced today by the company is directly related to the power of the factory's equipment which was developed in the 1960s. 'We're lucky to have the background and the hardware - we're very pleased that one worked out,' he tells Andrews. Click o...

We highly recommend this short documentary on the manufacture of Brooks saddles. Founded in 1866 in Smethwick, Birmingham, the company embodies everything that we are looking for in the subjects of M&I. Having registered their first patent in 1882, the product remains nearly identical today - the B17 saddle was first produced in 1898 and is still available 111 years later. Eric Murray, an expert chamferer at the factory, believes the manufacturing process will remain, 'I presume it will always be the same, it's the way it goes.' Thank you to Anothersomething for bringing this video to our attention.