‘British business is better than ever.’ This was the message loud and clear at this year’s ‘Meet the Manufacturer’ event organised by ‘Make it British,’ the campaign for the return of UK manufacturing, which took place on May 25 and 26 at the Truman Brewery, London. The event saw a high-calibre of participants, including the British Fashion Council, Harrods, Marks & Spencer, the National Gallery and ASOS.

A poll carried out by Meet the Manufacturer in the run up to the event echoed these welcome signs of life for the British textiles and fashion industry, showing that 60 per cent of manufacturers say ‘business is better than five years ago’ and 65 per cent say ‘stay in the EU.’

According to Kate Hills, Founder and CEO of ‘Make it British,’ the campaign for the return of UK manufacturing that they have been delighted by the overwhelming support for this year’s event, borne out by the fact that we had more people attend this time on the first day than attended overall last year. Their workshops, which were new for this year, were phenomenally successful with around 900 people attending them over the two days. Meet the Manufacturer is a platform for leading industry figures to come together to drive UK manufacturing and for buyers and designers to find textile and garment production in the UK. There’s an air of confidence in the industry at the moment and Make it British is definitely back in fashion.