Investigative stories
15
genuinely hand crafted?
developed by hand, but
ambiguity. Simon explains,
for other items it is
“Top-end car
harder to tell.”
manufacturers also play the
Professor Simon
game to some extent, such as
BurtonshawRolls Royce, Bentley etc.,
Gunn PhD,
but really only some parts
Head of
are actually handmade,
Division:
such as stitching on
Business,
seats or the specialist
Leadership
wood working,
and
whilst the rest is
A handmade skirt created by Abi Jackson
Finance
still manufactured
of Northampton Business School
using machinery (in part to allow
at the University of Northampton,
replacements otherwise the cost of an
commented: “I think that there is
accident will be even higher as body
probably not a definition of what
panels will have to be specially made
constitutes handmade, as this may
to fit).”
vary between products and, although
Sarah Peters and Sharon
some companies may use this to their Morgan, managers at a local
advantage, they must also be aware of Northampton craft shop, Made
trade description legislation, which
in Northamptonshire, believe
in the main would prevent wild
that companies that incorporate a
accusations of goods being termed
handmade visage when the products
handmade when they were not.”
they sell are actually manufactured,
Thus, products can’t be casually
devalue other shops that sell
labeled as handcrafted when it is
handmade items.
obvious they are not.
Sarah commented: “It takes away
Simon gives examples of
from other shops, like ours, that
handcrafted products that do not
support a non-profit social enterprise
tend to cause confusion on the
(Action Support)
market: “The term ‘handmade’ is
which tries to
often used to suggest a bespoke or
get disabled
special quality product, the most
people back
obvious is handmade jewellery
into work
which needs specialist skills and, as
by giving
such, cannot really be anything else
them work
than handmade. Also, expensive
experience
shotguns and, at the cheaper end but
still using the term ‘handmade’ as
a sign of quality are, chocolate
manufacturers where some are
sold is smalls specialist outlets
and others in premier London
stores, such as Harrods,
Fortnum and Mason.”
And so, Abi’s handcrafted
clothes wouldn’t normally
make people question the
products’ provenance.
However, other market
sectors offer more
Handmade items in Made in Northamptonshire
opportunities”
Sharon added: “The quality
of a product is lost when it is
mass produced. When an item is
handmade, a lot more time and care
is invested in it.”
This is all changing and people
are being more careful about the
products they buy, due to more
online shops being created.
Sharon explains: “There is more
variety out there in shopping,
the expansion of this means that
the public are more careful when
buying a product that is marketed as
handmade.”
Left to
Right:
Sarah
Peters
and
Sharon
Morgan