‘I’m a UK entrepreneur – because of this Trump’s tariffs assist my enterprise’ | UK | News | EUROtoday

In deepest Derbyshire a family-run agency that has been going for 3 generations is the final British producer of hand-cut wood jigsaws. Just Jigsaws Ltd was established in 1973 and makes greater than 5,000 puzzles every week, exporting greater than 50% of them overseas.

As a part of the Daily Express Buy British marketing campaign, we’re unashamedly championing UK-based corporations, that are the lifeblood of entrepreneurial spirit on this nation. Just Jigsaws couldn’t be a greater instance. The supplies it makes use of to make its merchandise are all sourced and manufactured in England. Most come from inside 50 miles of the manufacturing facility in Alfreton.

John Trowsdale, 30, is the director, having taken over from his dad and mom Tony and Vanessa, who adopted within the footsteps of his grandfather and grandmother, John and Jackie. In the Seventies, John Snr broke the world file for the most important jigsaw puzzle. His creation measured 6.3m x 3.15m, with all 32,000 items being minimize by hand.

As effectively as wood jigsaws, the corporate makes peg boards and different academic merchandise, that are offered in international locations like Canada, Australia, Norway and Denmark.

John says of the presently unstable world markets: “Ironically, I think Trump’s tariffs have helped us. I don’t deal with America and obviously everyone is having trouble with them, so we might pick up business by default from that. Our biggest market is probably Australia and we do a lot in the Nordic countries, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark.

“We now do quite a lot in Canada as well, and I am hoping to do more because of these tariffs. We’ve just made some native own-brand products for the Canadian market.” He added: We take care of the higher finish of the market, serving faculties and nurseries, so we now have to be higher than the remainder.

“People don’t want to just chuck things away any more – they are buying stuff to last.”

Just Jigsaws employs 10 individuals and is looking for to tackle one other for the primary time in 4 years. John says: “My grandad meant the world to me, so it is really nice to keep the legacy going. None of us do it for the money because there’s not that much compared to the level of stress you have to deal with.

“But I like what I do, and that to me is worth a lot more than getting paid a lot.” A community of firms advantages from British producers like Just Jigsaws. John says of his firm: “The timber I get from a company in Leicester, the boxes are made in Nottingham, the printing is from Derby. The pegs we use are from the next village over, everything we use is made in the Midlands.

“My dad was always keen for us not to be hypocrites – we are asking people to buy British, so we’ve got to do the same.”

Talking in regards to the assist given to homegrown small and medium companies, he thinks the Government might do much more. The reply to kickstarting the financial system, he believes, is for politicians to let individuals who have labored in manufacturing take the lead. “It wouldn’t be hard to find someone from independent, small manufacturing and ask them what they can do to help.

“Not once since we’ve been in Derbyshire have we had an MP come to us.

“We are the only manufacturer of this kind left in the UK. You would think a local MP would want to support us, they don’t give a toss to be honest with you.

“We haven’t even got a minister for manufacturing in the UK – how bad is that?

“But if I were in that role I would say that public sector companies should buy British, because it’s public money anyway, and it should go to a company that’s paying taxes in Britain. You can’t lose out that way.”

He provides: “Little companies probably pay a higher proportion of tax because they can’t find loopholes like the big companies do.

“I think if the Government really encourages small and medium-sized businesses they will get more money in the long term.”