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Made In England

Made in England ResearchInteractive

The Made in England House

We went through an ordinary house and checked 25 everyday objects to see who still makes them in England. Ten are still widely made. Five, including the kettle and the washing machine, have no English maker we could find.

10still made here, by three or more established makers
10hanging on, with one or two makers or small workshops only
5have no English maker we could find

On this pageThe houseEvery objectHow we checked

Key findings

  • Five of the 25 objects have no maker we could find in England: the electric kettle, washing machine, light bulb, toothbrush and bath towel.
  • The last known washing machine line has stopped. Ebac of County Durham, described as the only British maker, was reported in May 2026 to have ended production.
  • Four more are down to a single maker we could confirm: toasters in Crawley, televisions in Bishop Auckland, vacuum cleaners in Chard and pencils in Workington.
  • Ten are still made by three or more firms. Long Eaton in Derbyshire has more than 50 upholstery businesses, and Northampton, whose shoemakers formed a guild in 1401, still makes shoes.
  • Made here often means finished here. Sheets are sewn in Lancashire from cloth woven in Italy, and at least one London umbrella maker usually buys its frames from China.

Five of these 25 household objects have no English maker we could find

Each number is one of the 25 everyday objects we checked. Filled: still made in England by three or more makers. Open: hanging on, with one or two makers or small workshops only. Dashed: no English maker we could find. Select a number for details.

Bedroom
Landing
Bathroom
Kitchen
Hallway
Living room

Made in England graphic. Checked 12 October 2026. Dashed outlines mark the objects with no English maker we could find.With those five taken out there is no kettle, washing machine, light bulb, toothbrush or bath towel.

Who makes what, room by room

Every entry names the makers we could confirm and links to its sources.

Bedroom

1MattressStill made hereHarrison Spinks, Vispring, Silentnight and others

At least five firms still make mattresses in England, from Lancashire to Devon.

Silentnight makes beds and mattresses at Barnoldswick in Lancashire. Harrison Spinks says it makes every bed in its Leeds factory, springs included. Vispring has made mattresses to order in Plymouth since 1970. Hypnos in Buckinghamshire and Naturalmat in Topsham, Devon, make them too.

Sources: Harrison Spinks, Furniture News: Silentnight

2Bed sheetsHanging onSewn by Peter Reed, Heirlooms and Victoria Linen

Sheets are still sewn in Lancashire, but we could not find anyone weaving the cloth in England.

Peter Reed of Nelson, Lancashire, wove its own cloth until 2008. It now buys cloth from mills in Italy, then cuts and sews the bedding in Nelson. Heirlooms in West Sussex and Victoria Linen in Burnley also make sheets up in their own workshops.

Sources: Peter Reed, Royal Warrant Holders: Heirlooms

3Wool blanketHanging onA W Hainsworth, Abraham Moon

Witney made a quarter of the country's wool blankets in the 1950s. Its last mill closed in 2002.

Four Witney firms made about a quarter of the country's woollen blankets in the early 1950s. Early's, the last of them, closed its Oxfordshire factory in July 2002. Wool blankets are still woven in West Yorkshire, by A W Hainsworth in Pudsey and Abraham Moon in Guiseley.

Sources: Victoria County History, Hainsworth

4Teddy bearHanging onMerrythought, Canterbury Bears

Teddy bears are still made by hand in Ironbridge, where Merrythought started in 1930.

Merrythought, founded in Ironbridge, Shropshire, in 1930, makes teddy bears by hand there and is described as Britain's oldest remaining teddy bear maker. Canterbury Bears makes bears by hand in a workshop in Kent. Chad Valley, the other big Shropshire name, moved its soft toy making to South Wales in the 1970s.

  • MerrythoughtIronbridge, Shropshire. Founded 1930
  • Canterbury Bearsnear Canterbury, Kent

Sources: Merrythought, Thyme: Canterbury Bears, Grace's Guide: Chad Valley

5PencilHanging onCumberland Pencil Company, Workington

Graphite found near Keswick in 1564 started the English pencil trade.

Very pure graphite was found at Borrowdale, near Keswick, in 1564. The first pencil factory opened in Keswick in 1832 and became the Cumberland Pencil Company. Its Derwent pencils are now made at Lillyhall, Workington, which has been described as Britain's last remaining pencil factory.

Sources: British Library, IMechE, 2016

Bathroom

6ToiletHanging onArmitage Shanks, Silverdale Bathrooms

One Staffordshire factory says it is the UK's only large-scale maker of toilets and basins.

The Armitage Shanks factory at Armitage, Staffordshire, dates from 1817 and still casts, glazes and fires toilets and basins. One of its two kilns has closed since a 2025 review, with about 100 jobs lost. Silverdale Bathrooms makes ceramic bathroomware by hand at Newcastle-under-Lyme.

  • Armitage ShanksArmitage, Staffordshire. Founded 1817
  • Silverdale BathroomsNewcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire

Sources: KBB Review, 2025, Westminster Hall debate, 2026, Bathroom & Kitchen Update

7Toilet rollStill made hereKimberly-Clark, Essity, Sofidel

Andrex began in 1942 as a paper handkerchief sold only at Harrods.

Andrex was developed at a mill in Walthamstow, east London, and first sold as disposable handkerchiefs. Most of it is now made at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, where the mill was rebuilt in a two-year project from 2019. Essity makes toilet roll at Prudhoe in Northumberland and Trafford Park in Manchester, and Sofidel has paper mills in Leicester and Lancaster.

  • Kimberly-Clark (Andrex)Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
  • EssityPrudhoe, Northumberland, and Trafford Park, Manchester
  • SofidelLeicester and Lancaster

Sources: Manufacturing Today, Essity, Andrex

8ToothbrushNo maker foundNone confirmed

The modern toothbrush is credited to a Londoner, William Addis, in 1780.

We could not confirm anyone making toothbrushes in England today. The Addis factory in Hertford was a major local employer until 1996. Wisdom has been based in Haverhill, Suffolk, since 1945, but does not say where its brushes are now made. Kent Brushes of Hertfordshire describes its toothbrushes as handmade, without saying where.

9Bar of soapStill made hereThe English Soap Company, Droyt, Lush

A soap maker that began in Minsk in 1893 still makes glycerine soap in a Lancashire mill.

England still has working soap makers. The English Soap Company makes all its soap on a farm in East Sussex, and Droyt makes glycerine soap at Progress Mill in Chorley. Some of the big names moved away: the Cussons factory in Nottingham closed in 2005 and its production went to Thailand.

Sources: The English Soap Company, Lancashire Post, The Grocer

10Bath towelNo maker foundNone found

Christy began weaving terry towels by machine in about 1850. They are now woven in India.

Christy started making terry towels by machine around 1850. Sources differ on whether the first came from its mill in Stockport or the one in Droylsden, which closed at the end of the 1980s. Its towels, including the ones used at Wimbledon, are now woven in Gujarat, India, a move reported as complete by about 2010. We could not find anyone weaving towels in England.

Kitchen

11Electric kettleNo maker foundNone found

We could not find an electric kettle made in England.

Russell Hobbs launched its K1 automatic kettle in 1955 and made kettles in Staffordshire for decades. Its Wombourne factory closed in March 2002 and production moved to China. Morphy Richards ended most kettle production at Mexborough, South Yorkshire, in 2000. One start-up says it plans to make an electric kettle in the UK, but it is not yet in production.

12ToasterHanging onDualit, Crawley

A two-slice Dualit Classic has 141 parts and is still built by hand in Crawley.

Dualit is the only toaster maker we could confirm in England. Each Classic toaster is assembled by hand at its factory in Crawley, West Sussex, where the firm moved from south London in 2003. Dualit does not say where the parts are made.

  • DualitCrawley, West Sussex. Founded 1945

Sources: Dualit, ChannelNews, 2025

13TeapotStill made hereEmma Bridgewater, Burleigh, Adderley Ceramics

By 1926 Staffordshire was turning out about half a million Brown Betty teapots a week.

The red clay of north Staffordshire gave England its best known teapot, the Brown Betty. Stoke-on-Trent still makes teapots: Emma Bridgewater in Hanley, Burleigh at Middleport Pottery and Adderley Ceramics in Longton. Sadler of Burslem, a teapot specialist since 1882, went into receivership in 2000.

Sources: Design Museum, Re-Form Heritage, 2026

14CutleryStill made hereCarrs, David Mellor, Taylor's Eye Witness

Sheffield's cutlers have had their own guild, set up by Act of Parliament, since 1624.

Sheffield is still the home of English cutlery, though the trade is much smaller than it was. Carrs makes cutlery in the city, David Mellor presses, grinds and polishes its own at Hathersage in the Derbyshire Peak District, and Taylor's Eye Witness still makes some of its knives in Sheffield. Arthur Price, once wholly Sheffield-made, now finishes cutlery there.

  • Carrs SilverSheffield, South Yorkshire. Founded 1976
  • David MellorHathersage, Derbyshire. Founded 1953
  • Taylor's Eye WitnessSheffield, South Yorkshire. Founded 1838

Sources: Carrs, Port magazine, 2024, Bira: Taylor's Eye Witness

15Washing machineNo maker foundNone found

The one firm reported to be making washing machines in England stopped in 2026.

Ebac of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, started making washing machines in 2016 and was reported to be the only British company doing so. In May 2026 the trade site Whitegoodshelp reported that Ebac had stopped production, citing rising costs and competition from East Asia. Ebac's own website says production is paused. We found no one else making them in England.

Hallway

16Vacuum cleanerHanging onNumatic, Chard

Henry is made in Chard, Somerset.

Numatic makes Henry vacuum cleaners at a 42-acre site in Chard with more than 1,100 staff. It is the only maker of household vacuum cleaners we could confirm in England. Dyson announced in 2002 that it planned to move production from Malmesbury, Wiltshire, to the Far East.

  • NumaticChard, Somerset. Founded 1969

Sources: Make UK, 2026, Personnel Today, 2002

17UmbrellaHanging onFox, James Ince & Sons, Swaine

The steel-ribbed umbrella frame was developed by Samuel Fox near Sheffield and patented in 1852.

Three small firms still make umbrellas by hand in England: Fox in Croydon, James Ince & Sons in Bethnal Green and Brigg in Cambridge. The frames are another matter. The Sheffield frame maker Hoyland Fox moved its tools and machinery to China in 2008, and at least one of the three usually buys its frames in.

Sources: Yorkshire Post, The Manufacturer, Fox Umbrellas

18Door lockHanging onUnion and Yale, Squire, Banham

Willenhall had 148 locksmiths around 1770. Its old Yale factory is now a supermarket.

Willenhall in the West Midlands was England's lock town from Elizabethan times, and most of its lock makers had closed or moved by 2000. Union and Yale locks were still being made there in 2018, the most recent report we could find. Squire, founded in 1780 and now near Wolverhampton, makes padlocks and bolts, and Banham of London says it still makes its locks in Britain.

  • Union and Yale (ASSA ABLOY)Willenhall, West Midlands
  • SquireFeatherstone, near Wolverhampton. Founded 1780
  • BanhamLondon. Founded 1926

Sources: Express & Star, 2018, Squire, Banham

19Leather shoesStill made hereTricker's, Crockett & Jones, Loake

Northampton has had a shoemakers' guild since 1401.

Northampton is still the heart of English shoemaking. Tricker's and Crockett & Jones make their shoes there from start to finish, and Loake has a factory in nearby Kettering. Clarks said in 2005 that it would close its last UK shoe factory.

Sources: The Retail Bulletin, 2005, Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe

20BicycleStill made hereBrompton, Pashley, Mercian

Raleigh's Nottingham production line closed in 2002. Brompton and Pashley still build in England.

Brompton builds its folding bikes by hand in Greenford, west London. Pashley has built bicycles in Stratford-upon-Avon since 1926 and says it has never moved production overseas. Mercian brazes steel frames one at a time near Derby.

  • BromptonGreenford, London. Founded 1975
  • PashleyStratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. Founded 1926
  • Mercian CyclesLittle Eaton, Derbyshire. Founded 1946

Sources: Pashley, Brompton, FundingUniverse: Raleigh

Living room

21WallpaperStill made hereAnstey, Farrow & Ball, Lincrusta

One factory in Loughborough prints wallpaper six different ways under one roof.

Anstey Wallpaper Company in Loughborough prints Sanderson and Morris & Co papers, among others, by block, screen, gravure, flexographic and digital methods. Farrow & Ball makes its wallpaper in Dorset, and Lincrusta, the embossed wall covering, is still made in Morecambe. Graham & Brown said in 2023 that it would close its Blackburn factory and move long print runs to Europe.

Sources: Anstey, Farrow & Ball, Lancashire Business View, 2023

22CarpetStill made hereAxminster Carpets, Wilton Carpets, Cormar

Axminster carpet is still woven in Axminster, Devon.

Axminster Carpets went into administration in February 2020 and was rescued the following month. It still weaves in the Devon town that gave the carpet its name. Kidderminster in Worcestershire was the centre of the trade, with more than thirty manufacturers in 1951.

Sources: Insight DIY, 2020, Wikipedia: Kidderminster

23SofaStill made hereParker Knoll, Long Eaton Sofas, Steed and many more

Long Eaton, a Derbyshire town once known for lace, has more than 50 upholstery firms.

When the Nottingham lace trade declined in the 1920s, its skilled workers moved into upholstery, and Long Eaton became the centre of English sofa making. The trade magazine Furniture News counted more than 50 upholstery businesses in the town in 2026.

Sources: Furniture News: Long Eaton's history, Furniture News: Long Eaton's upholsterers

24Light bulbNo maker foundNone found

GE's Leicester lamp factory once employed nearly 3,000 people. It closed in 2007.

We could not find anyone making household light bulbs in England. Ordinary bulb production at GE's Leicester factory stopped in 1996, and the site closed at the end of 2007. Thorn's Preston works closed in 1994, and Osram stopped making bulbs at Wembley in 1991.

25TelevisionHanging onCello, Bishop Auckland

Televisions are still assembled in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

Cello Electronics assembles and tests LED televisions at its factory in Bishop Auckland, and says it is the only TV brand still manufacturing in the UK. It does not say where the screens and main components come from. Toshiba ended TV production in Plymouth in 2009 and moved the work to Poland.

Sources: Cello, What Hi-Fi

How we checked

Made means manufactured in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not counted. Where a maker assembles or finishes here from parts made elsewhere, or does not say where its parts come from, the entry says so.

For each object we looked for current makers through their own websites, trade and regional press, Companies House and trade bodies. A second pass then tried to disprove each finding. Every entry links to its sources.

No maker found means we looked and could not find one. It is not proof that none exists. Two entries rest on thinner evidence than the rest: the toothbrush, where one firm describes its brushes as handmade without saying where, and the door lock, where the latest report of production in Willenhall dates from 2018. Twenty-five objects is a sample, not a census.

If you make one of these things in England, or know someone who does, tell us and we will correct the entry: hello@madeinengland.com

Suggested citation

Made in England Research, The Made in England House. Checked 12 October 2026.

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