Does “Made in England” count for Anything?

I was recently writing copy for our About Us page for the new look Popup Mailers site and I included the fact that I was pleased to say that all of our products are made in England. In fact, they are actually all made in Lancashire. When I was a boy, my grandad used to tell me that I should look out for the “Made in England” label on goods as “made in England” meant that they were the best.

Those words from  the 1950s have stuck with me and whilst I am very pleased to be able to provide work for people in the town where I was born; I have to ask, “Does anyone else really care where something is made?”

We have competitors who are happy to send out production to countries where wages are lower. That may mean that they can offer their goods for less or simply make more money themselves. Whatever the reason, it’s not my business nor my concern. I have always been more interested in quality over quantity and being the best rather than the biggest.

For those reasons, I personally would not be happy to relinquish “hands on” control of production as I would not feel that we could guarantee the quality of the work or have full control over delivery deadlines. That is not to say that the goods or service from companies sending production out to other countries is anything other than perfectly acceptable. And that is why I raise the question – even though it matters to Whitney Woods, does it really matter to you or your client where your promotional pop-up products are made?

I would be interested to hear your points of view.