MI Pro

Patriotism may, as Dr Johnson insisted, be the last refuge of the scoundrel, but few in the MI industry wouldn’t have felt their spirits sink a little when, in April, it was announced that Kemble & Co – Britain’s last piano manufacturer – was closing its doors.

To a pessimist, the news would have confirmed his view that the UK as a manufacturing nation is all but finished. But the reality is that some parts of Britain’s manufacturing industry are alive and well. Indeed, in certain sectors, including MI, manufacturing is flourishing - albeit beset with the devils of a recession, high costs, a government in love with regulation and attendant bureaucracy.

This article doesn’t set out to be a ‘product roundup’. The scope of British MI manufacturing is far too broad to cover in one article and if anyone has been left out, we’re genuinely sorry. Instead, what we set out to do was to take a snapshot of areas where there is particular activity and see what can be learned from some of the people who are doing their best to keep Britain afloat as a manufacturing nation. And if any reader feels ignored and has a rollicking good yarn of British manufacturing success to tell, please do get in touch and let us know.

The first good news is that though the big success stories of British MI manufacturing tend to cluster into two areas – backline amplification and pro audio equipment – it is by no means confined to them. British companies are making everything from Chieftain’s folk music whistles to Rothwell Audio’s acclaimed effects, to TL Audio’s valve audio mixers. Even that relative graveyard of British hopes and dreams, mass market guitar making, is undergoing a small but steady renaissance, while relative newcomers, like the loudspeaker maker Tayden, are coming to the market with proof that not everything has to be made in Shenzen or Seoul.

Take, for example, one of the UK’s biggest MI successes: Rotosound. While the manufacture of so many other mass-market, low-cost consumer products has moved east, Rotosound strings are still proudly made in Kent and the company is constantly growing.

But surely Jason How, Rotosound’s chairman, could make a lot more money if he chose to have his strings manufactured elsewhere.

“Maybe I could,” How says, “but I wouldn’t want to take the gamble for the sake of few pence. I know exactly what we do and I wouldn’t risk it. Also, the machinery that we use plays a big part in how efficient we are, whereas I guess making guitars and building amps involve more labour, which may explain why those makers tend to go abroad.”

Rotosound benefits particularly because How designs and makes his own string winding machines, the effectiveness of which has to be seen in action to be believed. Even so, he could install them in a Chinese factory, but chooses not to. And this is not just due to sentiment.

How reveals that Rotosound’s exports are up by a huge amount, this year. “By 49 per cent, in fact. And I have to say we put a fragmented image of the Union Jack on the front of our new string pack designs and during this latest year we’ve had a huge increase in sales. I can’t tell you if it’s the flag that made any difference, but everyone I’ve spoken to says I need to tell people that it’s British made product. Whether that matters so much in Rochester or Maidstone, I can’t say, but I am getting more and more emails from people saying they would like to buy British when they can. It’s like the penny is suddenly dropping.” 

The largest British MI manufacturing sector is clearly guitar amplification and despite recession in the vital US market, none of the leading makers regret their decision to make products here. Indeed, they all insist it is a major advantage.

Though all the makers we spoke to in this sector source some of their production from the Far East, their hand-wired valve equipment is thoroughly British, made by highly skilled workers producing a high-value product, which helps mitigate the high cost of production. It’s also a matter of pride to them all.

Paul Marshall explains: “We make a lot of Marshall here in the UK. In fact we are continuing to introduce products that are made in the UK and there was a big launch at the end of July for even more products that will be made here.

“We’re very proud of the fact that we’re a UK company and there is simply no way that we would move everything overseas. We find that having ‘made in the UK’ on products has a definite positive effect, particularly in America, which is a massive market for us. There, ‘made in the UK’ stands for a lot – it still counts for quality and workmanship and it’s probably the same across the world.”

But does it count for as much at home?

“I think that’s more difficult to say. People are often looking for low cost, but those who do buy British, buy it because they know it’s a quality product. People know that Marshall amps made in the 1960s are still working and still serviceable and that if they buy a new one today the same will be true of that in 30 years, too.

“I think we should be proud of what we do here – not just at Marshall – and that we should fight to keep manufacturing here. When you see a UK-made product and you know that it’s UK jobs that put every nut and bolt in it… Yes, that’s something worth supporting.”

Up in Yorkshire, you will hear a similar take from Hiwatt. Again, the company has its lower cost designs produced in the Far East but, says Justin Harrison, everything else is made in the UK and the company’s close association with fellow Yorkshiremen and speaker-makers Fane makes them even more British than most.


“I would think 65 per cent of our business is made in the UK,” Harrison says. He believes it matters. “Even if you just did it as a flag-waving exercise to say in your brochure that you make amplifiers in Britain, you need to do it.”
Indeed, along with one or two other UK makers speaking off the record, he has a pretty low opinion of the way some companies trade on a British image that they do little to back with actions.

“For us, our business is growing and maybe in ten years time when we are selling a lot more amplifiers, that actual percentage might fall, but we will still have engineers here, making British amps – it’s important. Made in Britain, like Made in the USA, now means something again.”

Another great success in export markets, with business up 30 to 35 per cent this year alone, is Orange. Damon Waller, Orange’s MD, says that at least 60 per cent of Orange’s production comes from the UK and he feels it is a significant factor in the brand’s success.

“When you manufacture anywhere in Europe, it adds a premium aspect to the brand and the more discerning customers will not accept a Far Eastern made product. The ‘Made in Britain’ tag, particularly with amplification, is important. These days, quality out of the Far East is generally very good and we control our Far Eastern production very successfully. All the same, there are things that we simply wouldn’t have done in China, hand-wiring for example, but not just that. The big valve amplifiers need to be set-up correctly and that’s something we prefer to do ourselves.

“British amps have always been the world leaders and we strive to keep British manufacturing alive as much as we can. I’ve yet to see a high-powered valve amplifier out of China that equals the quality of UK-made equipment. I’m not saying it won’t come, but it hasn’t yet.”

When Ashdown planned its Hayden range of backline guitar amplification it had the benefit of having had a foot in both camps with its eponymous bass range, some of which is produced in the Far East, but the top end of which is still manufactured in the UK.

As Dan Gooday says, Ashdown voted firmly for making Hayden in the UK.

“We make a lot of our products in England and have done for 13 years now. It’s a very prestigious phrase too – ‘Made in England’ – especially when it comes to America. A lot of the artists I deal with ask for something made in England and its great to be able to offer that. Of course, we can also offer ‘Made in the USA’, which is an interesting one, too.”

Given Ampeg’s move to Vietnam, this was a shrewd move on Ashdown’s part and, although it doesn’t have a direct bearing on manufacturing in Britain, it strongly suggests that buyers genuinely do care where their gear is manufactured.

“With Hayden, the majority of the product is made here, because we can do that and still sell it for the same price as some of our competitors, who manufacture in Korea. We may not be making as much margin, but we didn’t think it was necessarily about that. We wanted to show the world that it can be done at the same price point and for a better product that we’re 100 per cent confident in.”

Of course, it’s not all about amplifiers. Though our guitar makers haven’t fared so well in making the transition to production quantities, that doesn’t stop people trying. Companies like Fylde and Overwater have survived for many years and have strong followings, though neither is what you would call a major producer in terms of quantity. 

One guitar maker who is trying to break that mould is Alister Atkin, who has steadily been growing his range of well-respected acoustic guitars, which are being stocked by a growing number of retailers. Though still relatively small, Atkin has the makings of considerably bigger things and a keen recognition of the importance of marketing.

“We’re making between 60 and 70 guitars a year and we’ve only been involved with the trade for a couple of years, but we are picking up new dealers all the time,” he says. “What’s always been very important to me is that the product has to be placed in the right hands.” By this he means endorsements – something a few British makers (though not all) have been able to capitalise on as well as their American counterparts. Go to the Atkin site and the first thing you see is a parade of influential younger users, headed by Graham Coxon.

“Where I think we can buck the trend is by getting the right endorsements behind us. If James Taylor was playing your guitars, no one in the world would question them. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve stood around at a gig like a spare part with a guitar in my hands, hoping to get someone to try one, but you have to do it.”

Coincidentally, with his Hobgoblin retail hat on, Gremlin’s Chris Rudd, another keen supporter of British-made products, has recently chosen to stock Atkin’s acoustics, along with Jimmy Moon’s, in preference to a major American brand. Partly, he says, because it helps Hobgoblin stand out from the crowd and because, he feels, their customers want to buy British guitars. For that same reason Hobgoblin stores strongly feature the work of local makers.

Meanwhile, switching back to his distributor’s hat, Rudd says Gremlin stocks an increasing number of British makers. “A large percentage of our whistle catalogue is UK-made – including the whole range of Chieftain whistles and also Tony Dixon whistles. Fylde guitars, which we distribute to the trade, are made here, as are our Sherwood concertinas, which are made in-house.

“In fact, in a recent article in MI Pro I said we wanted to hear from small British manufacturers, particularly as the pound had dropped against the Euro, making British products relatively cheaper. As a result of that, a luthier called Tom Buchanan got in touch and I’m about to take my first delivery of bouzoukis from him. We do buy British where we can and we are always looking for new manufacturers from the UK.”

A maker who has trodden this path more than once (including in the USA), and who is currently treading it again, is Patrick James Eggle. “I think making in the UK is an advantage if you’re selling on home soil,” he says. “But actual manufacturing here is hard. The cost of labour isn’t as bad here as it is in Germany, but it’s higher than a lot of the guitar factories in America have to pay. However, I’m in a lower cost area of the country and able to pay the rent (thanks to Barnes & Mullins, which is a very good landlord), pay people a liveable wage and it works out for us.

“At the moment we only sell our guitars into dealers in the Benelux countries and the domestic market, but that is filling our order book rather well, so I’m not looking too seriously at other countries yet and I’m not falling over myself to sell guitars in America, either, because of all the hoo-hah that goes with it there.”

Eggle is making steady growth once again and helping keep alive the UK’s position as a force in the guitar-making world. He is one of any number of small makers, many of whom are producing instruments as fine as can be found anywhere in the world.

It is, overall, a mixed, or even a lopsided, picture. In MI, amp makers clearly prosper in Britain, as do top-end pro audio companies, such as Neve, Allen & Heath, SSL, Digico, Soundcraft and Midas. Guitar makers, however, tend to struggle for reasons that are not quite clear. Some cite the higher cost of raw materials and manufacturing and the huge size of the US home market. But isn’t that just as true for amplifier makers? It’s hard not to wonder if it isn’t simply that customers have just got used to wanting American guitars and British amplifiers. Meanwhile, beyond the guitar market, there are people working in most fields in the UK, from drumstick makers, to brass specialists, strap and pick makers – you name it, someone is out there doing it.

What is clear is that the UK has largely shaken-off the damaging legacy of the British Leyland years and is regaining its reputation as a maker of quality products that customers overseas really want to buy. It remains hard to manufacture in a high cost environment like ours, but many are still willing to give it their best shot. Which, given the country’s balance of payments position, has to be good news for the rest of us.