Article: Made With Care
Made With Care
Behind the Factory That Makes Our Bed Linen, Towels & Bathrobes
We’re often asked where our products are made. It’s a perfectly reasonable question, particularly when you’re buying something as personal as bed linen and want to know a little more about what you’re bringing into your home. So, we thought it was time to talk about it properly.
At Beaumont & Brown, our duvets and pillows are made right here in the UK, while our bed linen, towels and bathrobes are produced at our long-standing partner factory in China.
We know that for some people, the words ‘made in China’ can immediately raise questions about quality, working conditions and how a product has been made. But we don’t believe the country of manufacture tells you everything you need to know.
A relationship built over 21 years
We have worked with the same family-owned factory in China for the past 21 years. That longevity is really very important to us.
We work directly with the factory, with no intermediate wholesalers between us. This means we have a close working relationship and direct oversight of the products we commission, rather than buying through a chain of suppliers we don’t know.
Over two decades, that relationship has developed into something much more meaningful than a simple manufacturing arrangement. We know the people we work with, understand how the factory operates and have built up a level of trust that comes from working together year after year.
It is also why we are confident talking about the standards we expect for the staff and the conditions in which our products are made.
The people behind the products
Good quality bed linen doesn’t begin and end with the finished fabric.
Of course, the things you notice first when you buy luxury bed linen are the things you can see and feel: the quality of the cotton, the weight and handle of the fabric, the way it washes and the feeling of getting into a beautifully made bed.
But there is another part of quality that matters to us; the people making our products should be working in an environment that is safe, healthy and supportive.
Our partner factory has strict policies and regulations covering working conditions, health and safety, staff welfare and wellbeing. There are robust procedures and safeguards in place, and these standards are taken extremely seriously. That truly does matter to us.
The people working at the factory are an enormously important part of its business, and because the factory is such an important part of ours, their working environment, stability and wellbeing matter to us too.
Why where something is made isn't the whole story
Unfortunately, it is common to reduce manufacturing to a simple question of geography: UK-made must be good. Made overseas must be less good.
But manufacturing is rather more complicated than that.
A product’s quality comes from the materials used, the people making it, the processes involved, the standards maintained throughout production and the relationships behind the supply chain.
We have supplied hotel bed linen for many years, including to five-star hotels, and the standards we look for in those products are the same standards we apply across our collection. Beautiful materials matter, but so do consistency, craftsmanship, reliability and knowing exactly who you are working with.
The importance of knowing your supply chain
We have never wanted to simply put our name on a product and leave the manufacturing process at arm’s length.
Our relationship with our factory means we can ask questions, discuss production directly and maintain a close understanding of how our products are made.
It also gives us something that becomes increasingly valuable in a complicated global supply chain: a relationship with the people behind the products.
Twenty-one years is a long time to work with anyone. In manufacturing, it gives you the opportunity to develop genuine trust and familiarity, as well as a shared understanding of the quality you expect.
We are proud that some of the people making our beautiful range of products have been part of that relationship for so long.
Quality you can feel - and quality we can stand behind
When you buy a set of pure cotton bed linen, the quality should be evident from the moment you open the packaging. The fabric should feel beautiful, wash well and stand up to years of use.
But we think quality should also mean being able to answer questions about where your products come from and who makes them.
For us, that means being open about the fact that our bed linen, towels and bathrobes are made in China, while our duvets and pillows are made here in the UK.
It means being able to tell you that we have worked with the same family-owned factory for 21 years.
And it means knowing that strict standards are in place around the working environment and the welfare of the people who make our products.
There is no single country that guarantees quality. There are, however, good manufacturers, poor manufacturers, responsible businesses and irresponsible ones -wherever in the world they happen to be.
We believe the relationship you have with your manufacturer matters enormously; ours has lasted more than two decades, and we are very proud of that.
