THE managing director of a New Zealand house- and giftware supplier travelled halfway round the world last month to visit the factory in which his products are made, and meet face-to-face the people he does business with on a daily basis.
John Monk runs John Monk Trading Company in Auckland, New Zealand. Since establishing in 1977, the company has evolved to become one of the country’s largest and most recognised importers of houseware and giftware. It supplies all sectors of the retail trade including department stores, supermarkets, independent retailers and speciality homeware stores.
John told Made in Britain, “It has been fantastic to come over to the UK and see the factory where some of our products are made – to meet with the people who make them and to really be behind the scenes. One of our policies is to always use efficient and long-standing companies who ensure their products meet all ethical and environmental trade practice standards. What More UK are pioneers, not only for quality and innovative products, but for British made items. Our customers in New Zealand know that ‘Made in Britain’ means quality.
“We’re proud to be supporting a company who is striving to be as environmentally friendly as possible; finding ways to create the same strong products without being detrimental to the world. To be here and to see their investment in the most up-to-date machinery to ensure this will be a continual process is very special indeed!”
Tony Grimshaw, OBE, director at What More UK, said, “We have worked with John for over 25 years and it’s been fantastic to see him again. His last visit to us was six years ago and it’s safe to say a lot has changed since then! We have invested £25 million in this short time, including state-of-the-art machines, buildings and product groups.
“To see our items travelling the world to some of the largest importers is incredible! The current economic environment makes it difficult to predict what’s going to happen, but we were committed to continuing as normal pre-, during and post-Brexit. Our efforts seem to be paying off as we continue to receive orders, from new and existing customers all over the world.
“As the largest UK manufacturer of plastic housewares, and members of the Made in Britain organisation, it’s incredibly important for us to make sure Britain is put on the map as an excellent country to trade with.”
For more information about What More UK see their member directory page
By Made in Britain 5 years ago | By Made in Britain