This year’s Make it British Live!, May 23 to 24, hosted around 200 exhibitors.

Formerly known as Meet the Manufacturer, for its fifth edition, the show was curated by the UK Fashion & Textile Association and focused specifically on bringing the fragmented supply chain back together after years of decline through connecting brands with manufacturers and providing the needed support to the young talents in the industry.

Among visitors, who were mostly from the UK, but also representing countries like Malaysia, USA, Japan and Russia, were businesses which look to the UK for luxury products. There was also a good turnout of buyers from UK high street.

There were more mills this year. For the first time, a dyer was exhibiting at the show. The event covered the whole supply chain, so anyone developing a product in the UK would find spinners, weavers, knitters, dyers as well as suppliers of trims, labels, buttons, etc.

UK manufacturing is enjoying a great renaissance, helped by the growth in the cost benefits of re-shoring and the sustainability agenda. Manufacturing employment in the UK is rising.

Across the UK, fashion manufacturing employs over 43,000 people with nearly 3,900 companies. Textile manufacturing in the UK is also constantly developing.