Tag Archives: Castle Melamine

British Made Small Electrical Items – Kettles, Toasters, Kitchen Items, Vacuum Cleaners (Hoovers), etc + kitchen tools and kitchenware and workwear

Chances are until just a few years ago that your small electrical items like kettles and toasters and your kitchen equipment would have been made in the UK and lasted for years and years.  Chances are if you buy a kettle or whatever today it will be made in China and break within a short time. Listed here are some British made kettles, toasters, kitchen items, vacuum cleaners (Hoovers), etc + kitchen tools and kitchenware and workwear that’s British made.

British made kettles

Philips used to make electric kettles in the UK (I have a couple of old made In England Philips kettles and they are very well made and they are still working), but I checked with Philips who have confirmed that all Philips products are now made in the Far East. For example, there was a Philips household domestic appliances factory in Hastings on the south coast that made kettles and electric heaters and it closed in 2008. Phillips used to make many other products in the UK such as razors, televisions, television components, military equipment, light bulbs, and CDs too but has now closed all its UK factories. They also own Mullards and Pye. Philips is a Dutch multinational technology company. Philips were once a big manufacturing presence in the UK. At the start of 2018 Phlips did actually have one factory still operating in the UK in Glemsford in Suffolk making Avent baby bottles but sadly in January 2018 Philips have announced even that is to close by 2020 and production moved to Philips home country, the Netherlands, because of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the UK’s proposal to leave the European Union.

Philips Filterline HD 4617 jug kettle. Kettle made in England; seperate base made in China. Purchased in January 2005.

Vintage Philips Filterline HD 4617 jug kettle. Kettle made in England; seperate base made in China. Purchased in January 2005. Photograph by author.

Vintage Philips type HD 4601Filterline electric kettle. c. late 1990s. Made in England (front view)

Vintage Philips type HD 4601Filterline electric kettle. c. late 1990s. Made in England (front view)

Vintage Philips type HD 4601Filterline electric kettle. c. late 1990s. Made in England (base underside view). Inscription reads "Philips type HD 4601made in England Batch 0008 A 220-240v -50-60hz 1850-2200w"

Vintage Philips type HD 4601Filterline electric kettle. c. late 1990s. Made in England (base underside view). Inscription reads “Philips type HD 4601made in England Batch 0008 A 220-240v -50-60hz 1850-2200w”

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Are the Office Supplies and Stationery in your Workplace, School, Club, and Home made in the UK? Plus British made fridge magnets

British made stationery.

Manufacturing in the UK allows companies to control supply, guarantee quality, offer flexibility and to be ethical and environmentally sound.

You and your company or organisation or club or school or university can support British companies and British jobs and be environmentally friendly (by reducing your carbon footprint through reducing the miles goods are transported) by buying British at home, at work and for school.

A good starting point is to buy only British made stationery (pens, pencils, staplers, paper clips, scissors, paper, files, etc.).  Don’t order stationery unless you know where it is made.  Refuse to buy cheap foreign made stationery.  Buy British stationery for your workplace and home and it will last longer and so save you or your company money long term.  Most stationery these days is foreign made but you can insists on buying British made stationery.  Just say 10 years ago most stationery was made in the UK, but sadly this is no longer the case.Most stationery these days is foreign made but you can insists on buying British made stationery.  Just say 10 years ago most stationery was made in the UK, but sadly this is no longer the case. We all know those cheap Chinese made staplers don’t last 5 minutes, whereas the old made in England stapler that has been floating around your office since who knows when is still going strong!  My old made in England Rexel stapler is superb quality; modern Chinese made Rexel staplers are very poor quality and do not last very long at all before they are broken.

An old made in Britain Rexel stapler. Still going strong after many many years. Photograpgh by author.

An old made in Britain Rexel stapler. Still going strong after many many years. Photograpgh by author.

An old made in Britain Rexel stapler. Still going strong after many many years. Photograpgh by author. Base view 1.

An old made in Britain Rexel stapler. Still going strong after many many years. Photograpgh by author. Base view 1.

An old made in Britain Rexel stapler. Still going strong after many many years. Photograpgh by author. Base view 2.

An old made in Britain Rexel stapler. Still going strong after many many years. Photograpgh by author. Base view 2.

A vintage box of made in UK Rexel No.56 staples. Sadly Rexel / Acco staples are now foriegn made. Photograph by author.

A vintage box of made in UK Rexel No.56 staples. Sadly Rexel / Acco staples are now foriegn made. Photograph by author.

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