Most recently I was at Select Bath. Unfortunately it was very quiet there (although where would you choose to attend a trade show, if you had the option of the Assembly Rooms or Olympia?), but two things must be mentioned. Firstly, it was good to see designers such as Michelle Butler of Isolyn, Jess Trevett (I particularly like the “Heavenly Bodies” concept) and a range of toiletries from Cocoonu, recently launched to complement some of their earlier products.

Secondly, having left Bath around 3 years ago for Brighton, I was very pleased to see several boutique shops still extant and new ones opening. Shops like Mee, Found, MiMiYuYu and Uber, to name a few.

Every Briton I talk to appears to recognise the UK high street is becoming ever more bland and formulaic, yet paradoxically the majority of people continue to shop in the national or international chains and buy basically the same clothes, more often than not from miserable, surly assistants; when they could just as easily walk into Uber and get a friendly, informative shop owner and some unique outfits. Admittedly, you’d be paying over £50 and not £15, but how much longer would that item of clothing last? Towns like Bath, Brighton and Bristol show it is possible to have a vibrant, albeit small, group of independent traders, which is great, but what a battle they have to keep going.

By the by, what was most disappointing on my visit to Bath was the desperately uninventive and utterly soulless new shopping development, Southgate. Having knocked down the previous shopping centre, developers have created something akin to a giant toy town, with as much life. I felt as if I was in that dreadful re-make of The Prisoner, wondering what the point was of constructing non-descript, faux-Georgian blocks when, away from the abbey and other historical buildings, something far more original could have been designed. No doubt pioneering proposals were put forward but vetoed by the clueless and faceless burghers that allowed the Bath Spa project to limp from one disaster to the next. (Did they get re-elected? Mind you, at least that turned out something worth visiting.)

Thank goodness we still have, in the shape of British designers and small businesses, some talent and novel ideas out there!

I only moved to this area a few years ago. Just before moving from Bath, a gorgeous wine and gifts shop closed down in St James Square near to where I was living. After moving to Hove, I used to purchase my wine from Off the Vine – which closed about 18 months ago. Even Oddbins and Nicolas struggled to survive on Western Road and shut down. So, what chance the independents? I’ve just found out that another store, ‘red white rose’ has given up, hence my visit that little bit further from home, to St Martin Vintners. Fingers crossed they will be able to survive both the recession and the onslaught from the national and international companies – primarily the supermarkets considering the trouble some of the off-licence chains are also in.

If only more people would spend some time to shop around a little, avoid buying everything from the same old shops week in, week out, thereby injecting a bit of variety into not only their lives but into the streets of Britain.

Anyway, enough ranting. And on to talking more about the streets of Britain. On my way home, box of wine cradled in my arms (nice to see Brighton Council have gritted the pavements today!) I walked past St Nicholas Road. Now, this street has brightened up my journey home from Brighton station on many an occasion in December through the ‘living Advent Calendar’ displays in the house windows. Something that has, apparently, been going on for over ten years. A simple yet effective and fun idea and one that, surely, the children down the road must love.

Anyway, off to prepare the house for a few visitors later, then out to celebrate New Year on the beach. Well wrapped up and prepared for the predicted -2C temperatures. Brr!

Shoreditch town hall was a rather lovely building, but the organisers and participants made it extra special. Wonderful, friendly people there; extremely well run and the hosts were making sure everything was running smoothly. Yes, Thursday night’s opening evening could have done with a few more nibbles, but I guess it’s very difficult to judge just how many people are likely to attend.

Anyway, in terms of those exhibiting, special mentions must be made to the following, who were (in my humble opinion) gifted, innovative, or downright stylish (you choose which are which):

Tabitha Bargh, Bang Products, Alice Mara, Claudette Joseph, Sarah Elwick and The Clock Factory.

They don’t, I’m sure, all manufacture their products from scratch, refusing to import part-made materials from China etc. etc. counter to one of my previous posts. Nevertheless, they are all coming up with their own ideas, making stuff here in the UK and struggling to make a living as small businesses. As such, in the run-up to Christmas for goodness sakes, I’m sure at least one of them will have something you’d love to buy for someone you know. Go on, take the plunge and buy British!

All the emphasis was on the word ‘British’, but looking at the price it made me wonder how the cost and the quality could match up, if the products were made in Britain. Further investigation is needed there, but it underlines the problem of sifting through the marketing to understand what is really meant by ‘British’ or even ‘Made in Britain’.

Of course, many products are designed by Britons or made in Britain, but it is very difficult to have confidence in that end result. ‘Has this item genuinely been manufactured here, from scratch, or has someone shipped in several items from another country and  assembled them into the finished article?’

It is important that we maintain and build on what is left of our manufacturing base here in Britain – taking advantage of the low value of the pound – because, as demonstrated over the past 12 months and more, this country cannot rely purely on our service industries for employment. Paradoxically, we should also encourage more fair trade with developing nations, with the emphasis on fair – it must not be through exploitative practices. (See the War on Want campaigns page and sign up to their letter to Primark’s CEO.)

The food industry is equally difficult to comprehend in terms of what is ‘British’ and what is not. The labelling can be just as misleading, as reported on BBC Radio 4′s ‘Farming Today’ this morning. For instance, provided a batch of bacon gets sliced and packaged in the UK, it can be labelled as British. If some other foodstuff gets shipped over and canned here, it can be labelled as British. It matters less about the true country of origin than where the last significant act of processing took place.

There is a fight going on to try and get the law changed on foodstuffs – and so should the law be changed for other products we buy. I’m pleased to say others think the same way. But there is still a need to keep that balance between the good of our nation and invigorating free fair trade between us and other countries. The last thing we want is the resurgence of protectionism across the globe. That will destroy the economies of both Britain and developing countries.