Boris and his dog Dilyn supporting Reg&Bob and UK manufacturing
Sometimes I wonder what madness made me start up a business and a product based business at that. Even now - perhaps even more especially now, I wake up in the middle of the night wondering what I’ve done! Fortunately Reg and Bob are the calming influence in the partnership and they rarely get stressed! But despite the pockets of worry - I love it! It’s great fun and I don’t regret it for a moment. And when we receive feedback telling us how you love that our collars and leads are machine washable or how effective the drying shammys are - or how the crossbody dog walking bags are so useful- well that makes it all worthwhile and we delight in still being here
‘Fronting’ the Better Health campaign
But it’s a hard call starting up, especially finding how and where to get your products made. It makes sense to think outside the UK - it’s cheaper and sometimes there’s more flexibility with the design options - but there can be issues too. Whilst I wouldn't dream of knocking overseas production because we’ve used it very successfully - we have recently managed to bring the production of our new collars, leads and bags to the UK. So it was extra special for us when Boris Johnson walked his dog Dilyn around Chequers on his UK made Reg&Bob lead, when he launched his Better Health initiative this week.
Dilyn in Reg&Bob
Living the brand
When we wanted to create our new jade colour to the range, it made sense to re-investigate UK makers and we are delighted we found a supplier in West Yorkshire. Not only have they produced the webbing to our colour specifications, we are now looking at introducing new products which we can test without being overly financially burdened. Of course the stripes and the vibrant colours will still be there and perhaps even be a new colour, if things go well. But the possibility of being able to launch a new product without a minimum order of thousands is refreshing and exciting.
And although coronavirus has put a totally unnatural spin on every aspect of business, it was good to know that I could place a repeat order this week and it would be here by a next-day courier - rather than a three month shipping delay. And for me there’s nothing better than picking up a phone to find out exactly what’s happening rather than speaking through endless intermediaries.
We wouldn’t welcome a Dragons Den’s inquisition about comparative production costs , transport or profit margins - we’re just pleased with what we’ve achieved so far. And whilst we can categorically say there are huge benefits from overseas production, we are so happy with the UK approach for our new products and if that reduces our profits, then so be it.
We don't pretend that everything will always be British. The driving force at Reg&Bob is selling totally practical products, without compromising on style - but we will certainly do our best to continue the theme where we can. If we can’t help get your dogs wet and muddy in style, where would we be?