Today is TPMF’s birthday.
By happy accident, none of the birthday cards received are from Hallmark, which is now subject to a Francis Towers boycott due to its plan to can UK manufacturing in favour of sourcing the vast majority of its 2bn cards-a-year production overseas.
To rub salt into the wound it is also planning to move giftwrap production to the US, despite there being a well-invested UK supplier for this product in the shape of Cardiff’s International Greetings.
The Hallmark decision is deeply depressing and also appears to be distinctly off-trend.
In recent weeks I’ve noticed a swathe of articles about so-called ‘reshoring’ – bringing the manufacturing of various consumer goods back to home markets.
A KPMG report on the topic makes some significant points about a variety of issues, including CSR and the environment, and of course timeliness of supply and the ability to react quickly to market requirements. It includes this: “Manufacturing thousands of miles away can have a profound influence on your reputation, especially if something goes wrong. It’s not just the plant at the end of your supply chain: your brand is out there, too.”
It also points out that companies often over-estimate the cost benefits of offshoring to a significant degree, with KPMG’s Andrew Underwood citing error margins of circa 20% - ie a lot.
Of course, detailed calculations when contemplating moving in the opposite direction are also required. But in Hallmark’s case it is already here.
Looking at himself’s card selection I find myself turning to the reverse, where I’m delighted to see that Woodmansterne and Ink Press for The Art File are bigging up their Printed in Britain creds in suitably jaunty style.
I particularly like that heart-shaped union flag.
Also among the selection, a KissMeKwik/Blunt Card has an FSC registration that leads to UK printer One Digital in Brighton, but could do with some addcopy to make the UK provenance more explicit, IMHO.
I’ve written about this ‘made in Britain’ zeitgeist before, I really do think consumers are more attuned to the relevance of this message nowadays than at any time in the recent past.
Also from the KPMG report, comes this example of a US fashion firm. “Recent research suggests that 76% of US shoppers notice ‘made in the USA’ labels. Last year, Karen Kane dresses, blouses and jackets promoted with ‘Made in the USA’ posters at Dillard’s department store posted 15% higher sales than similar non-promoted clothing.”
UK card publishers who aren’t bigging this up on their products are missing a trick.
As for Hallmark, one can but hope that there is indeed hope for its 300 Bradford print workers.
But if it does shut down the facility, there are plenty of home-grown greetings card publishers and printers that the circa 130,000 workers in the UK printing industry, and all our families and friends, should be pro-actively supporting instead.
