Bye, bye Teddy - you'll be missed

So one of Britain's best loved teddy bear makers, Merrythought Toys, founded in 1930, has been forced to close with the loss of 48 jobs. That's right - a toymaker forced to close in the run-up to Christmas. Ironic to say the least. Tremendously sad for sure.

Another small-scale British manufacturing company bites the dust. Why?

"High taxes, red tape, competition from the Far East, a toy market dominated by a few big retailers," says Oliver Holmes, whose Grandfather founded the company.

A familiar story across the UK. We know, we've met and listened to small-scale artisan manufacturers up and down this nation.

Does anyone out there care any more? Does "Made in Britain" count for nothing, even to us Brits? Can we not differentiate between quality and tat? Are we really going to stand by and let every last piece of our manufacturing heritage be squeezed out of existence like butchers and greengrocers already have?

Or shall we be brave? Shall we do something about it? Why not say "no" to cheap imports? Why not say "no" to cloned mass retailers?

Go on - buy just one thing from an independant retailer or artisan. You might be surprised at the high quality of the product. You might be taken back by the service you get. You might even feel good about yourself for having done it.

If enough of us do it, we might actually make a real difference to this country.

We're just sorry it's too late for teddy to be saved!