Great British Sewing Bee judge Patrick Grant says buying local creates jobs, long-term quality - and happiness

“Most of our domestic clothing brands produce the vast majority, if not all, of their product overseas,” he says.

"Lots of brands that we associate with being iconically British don’t make anything in the UK at all. And that is because they are all desperately trying to sell stuff, either make bigger margins or or sell stuff competitively, or both.”

All CC clothing is made in the UK, working with 52 manufacturers, including eight in Yorkshire (involved in spinning, dyeing and weaving). The cloth for its wool Chore jackets is woven by AW Hainsworth in Pudsey, then cut and sewn in Blackburn at Grant’s own Cookson & Clegg factory (he himself lives near Settle).

“There are not that many large-scale clothing factories left in the UK,” he says. “There are a couple of fairly substantial sewing factories in north London, and we use two of them. We make our polo shirts in a really good specialist factory in Leicester, and our rugby shirts with another small operation just outside of Rugby.

“What you have left in the UK in terms of textile making is the very best of the specialist manufacturers. Most of these businesses are privately-owned, family-owned specialists in one area of textile production that is quite difficult.

“The cheaper, easier-to-make stuff has all gone overseas. Making woollen textiles is hard, and making cotton textiles is comparatively simple, and so that is why there is almost no textile manufacturing left in Lancashire.”

British consumers would like to support British-made products if they could afford them, he says. CC can offer affordable British-made clothes by setting its own business model, paying its manufacturers about 65 per cent of the retail price, as opposed to the more usual 20-25 per cent.

“We don’t do any wholesale, so we don’t have that mark-up. We only sell direct online. We also spend a lot less money on marketing than anybody.

“We work on the basis that we make a good product and we sell it at a good price, and that is enough.”

It is advice he would give to young designers/makers, but admits it is easier said than done; his high profile from Sewing Bee has saved buckets on marketing.

“It’s very hard work to find customers, because the big guys have got so much power. The amount of money that is spent on marketing by those big, established funding brands is absolutely astronomical, so it is very, very hard to compete with them. So you have to do something that’s extra-special, or just be very, very good at using your money wisely.”

If the Government wants to support UK clothing manufacturing, it could itself procure more textile products from the UK.

“My factory in Blackburn used to be a military programme supplier. There is now almost no military clothing made in the UK. Just imagine how much that contract would be worth to the UK economy if it was switched. And NHS uniforms. Every doctor in a hospital, every nurse in a hospital, every member of staff in the health and social care sector, they all wear a uniform.”

Buying all uniforms from local suppliers would be more expensive but, he argues, almost all of the money would come into the UK economy, and make a huge difference to our textile industry. “If your policy is ‘think jobs first’, you make stuff in the UK.”

The Government could also reduce VAT on locally made products. “Those local manufacturers are paying loads of other tax. Everybody’s wages come with income tax, all their staff are paying National Insurance, they’re paying local rent, local business rate. If they make a profit, they’re paying local corporation tax. All of that tax would more than offset any reduction in the VAT.

“I think it’s what do you care about as a Government? Do you care about creating good long-term jobs, or not?

The public also needs to decide where they want their money to go. “When you are buying something, you have a choice. It may not be entirely obvious, but just have a little think. If I am buying this thing from this global online retailer, how much of that money that I’m spending is coming back into the local community? The answer is almost none.

“If I buy this directly from a local manufacturer, who is selling it themselves under their own name, through their own either retail or online store, just think how much more of your money is working its way back into the local economy. And that money then gets spent again and again inside that economy, and will create additional economic value.

“If you want to have a positive impact on the economy in your town or your county, or your country, you can have that effect. You just need to think about how you spend your money, and almost certainly, you will pay a little bit more, but also almost certainly, you will get a significantly better quality product, which will make you happier and will last longer and will in the long run save you money.

“So it is in everybody’s power to think about where they want their money to go and to spend it accordingly.”