Timely Message ?

I recently attended a lecture in Bloomsbury, London, given by interiors designer Sharron Marson. Sharron is back in the UK after several years in Israel. Apart from a couple of small verbal diversions, her main topic was the use of local materials, or lack of it. We are not particularly good at this in the UK, certainly not in the interiors industry. We source baths from Germany, kitchen appliances from Europe and the USA, tiles from Spain and Italy, and it feels like we get everything else from China. Every single item comes at a price, everything has a footprint. Sharon’s message on the night was that everything that we do will eventually have a consequence. She believes that we must be mindful of our actions, and that for our industry, the next step must be adapting designs to the availability of local products. There has been little reason for the industry to change, neither carrot nor stick. Much of the manufacturing previously carried in the UK has migrated abroad. Sharron believes that the lead must come from government, but that designers can play their part now by sourcing local, by persuading their clients to buy local, to come up with designs which promote the use of local materials. These things are out there now but the availability and range will not increase without a demand. Government has the power (if not yet the will) to encourage manufacturing, but it is up to those who have direct contact with clients to begin to create the interest. It’s a very big ask but if we don’t start moving in this direction soon, we will eventually have no choice. Better that we begin to make the change while we still have some control over the direction.