I don't know where Arcam produce their kit these days but I have some Naim amps I bought in the early 80's when I lived in London (and had the spare cash to indulge myself!). Naim serviced them for me last year and still manufacture in the UK. My amps are as good as new and you will never get a "no sorry we can't fix or service your amp" from Naim.

[url=http://www.walshcasual.com/#/norman-walsh/4572458204Walsh Casuals still going strong in Bolton[/url.

I've not heard of them being bought up by Reebok. They do have some links: Normal Walsh learnt his trade from JW Foster, whose grandsons later formed Reebok. [url=http://www.oipolloi.com/walsh-of-bolton-englandArticle from the factory floor, Dec 2012.[/url

[url=http://www.walshcasual.com/#/rugby-league/4572458351Even a dedicated RL page![/url

As someone who suffers from plantar fasciitis, getting the right footwear for running and RL is essential - was looking at their stuff a few weeks ago and thinking about popping over to Bolton to try some out.

Quote ="cod'ead"Even my trainers are by Norman Walsh, a footwear company that has now been sadly swallowed by Reebok. '" Not according to Companies House they haven't. The original company (Norman Walsh Footwear Ltd) was bought by the Crompton family in 1996, and they wound it up and relaunched as Walsh Sports Ltd which is still trading as an independent and still owned by the Crompton family... www.walshcasual.com/

Quote ="cod'ead"Even my trainers are by Norman Walsh, a footwear company that has now been sadly swallowed by Reebok. '" Not according to Companies House they haven't. The original company (Norman Walsh Footwear Ltd) was bought by the Crompton family in 1996, and they wound it up and relaunched as Walsh Sports Ltd which is still trading as an independent and still owned by the Crompton family... www.walshcasual.com/

Apologies to the Walsh brand.

I bought my trainers in a job lot of deadstock footwear at a boot sale around 5 years ago. Most of the items were Red or Dead but was delighted to find the Walsh trainers fitted me perfectly. I even remember suggesting to another forum member that he try to seek out Norman Walsh becuase he was looking for some casual sports shoes that were not among the "mainstream" brands. At the time I bought them the linked-to sites did not appear on any search engine, the only one I could find was an Italian website with what appeared to be obsolete information. Historical information was sp and ended in the 1980s, Can't honestly remember where I ot the Reebok connection from but it was a few years ago.

I do hope that the current products have not compromised Walsh's original standards. Looking at the prices and styles, anyone would be stupid not to consider Walsh when next buying a pair of trainers.

Never heard of them, but they look proper boss. Very likely to be adding a pair to my shoe cupboard.

Dr Martens are now making some of their footwear back in Northampton – primarily the 'vintage' range.

Obviously not British, but if you want to avoid sweatshop labour, then Birkenstocks are still made in Germany (and Portugal).

From Wiki:



Fane and Celestion also follow this model with premium lines being manufactured in the UK and 'mass market' products being made in China.

You're so down with the kids.

Just be careful where you buy them, after Ugg they are probably the most knocked-off footwear on the market, expecialy the web

It also kinda blows the theory that a company NEEDS to offshore its manufacturing to remain "competitive"

I order mine direct from the company in Germany – in essence, because they have a wider range of sizes/fittings, and it works out cheaper.

Innit.

I also get my Birkenstocks direct from Germany for the very same reason as Mintball, great shoes.

it's pretty much the only way to make sure you avoid that nasty, nasty capitalism. you can pretty much guarantee that somewhere along the line someone is making a profit at the expense of someone else.

Presumably you're aware that there is no direct link between capitalism and ethics and that one can exist happily within the ethos of the other (in some circumstances) ?

Now where did he say that profit and ethics were mutually exclusive, eh?

It often happens during televised football matches. The commentator praises the quality of a players shooting and the player then gets closer to the corner flag while trying to score a goal.

My lack of morals shames me and I want the dazzling glow of self-satisfaction that you have. What do I need to do to be more like you?

now where did i say anything about ethics, eh?

You didn't need to, you'd already made yourself look foolish (yet again), with this:



Now it may come as a surprise to you but I have never had a problem with companies or individuals making a profit. Having been self-employed for the last 12 years, it would be hypocritical of me to decry profit making.

I do have a problem with some methods of achieving profits and what then happens to those profits. The example of Norman Walsh footwear being a graphic case of how a British company can compete in sports footwear by manufacturing in Britain, using British labour, presumably paying at least NMW rates, instead of employing sweat-shop labour in a 3rd world country and then shifting money around the globe in order to minimise tax liability.

why would it come as a surprise to me, you love profit, look at the way you voted to have the nhs sold off.

If you are struggling (which you certainly seem to be) to engage in discussion of the subject at hand, may I suggest you read what Mintball had to say on the Abu Qatada thread?



Your trolling on this and various other threads is becoming tedious, it wouldn't be too bad if you were any good at it but compared to some, you are a rank amateur.

Of course over here a clothing firm would never be able to create jobs because some civil servant would come round the building with his clipboard saying can't build it like that it breaks some EU directive on health and safety.

Which is why everybody in the UK is unemployed and the third world is growing fast whilst we are stagnant.

Perhaps we should opt out of all this EU stuff and H&S stuff, then we can build huge factories with massive sleeping areas for the workforce to do 18 hrs before squeezing in with 300 others for a kip. They could also cook their own food on an open fire in the middle of it if we opted out of other H&S measures on food hygiene, quality control etc. Because they would have bed and board, no heating bills to pay for we could justify paying them 50p and hour and blow the opposition out of the water in such places as Indonesia, Philippines etc.

The modern mass consumerism is to blame though. People want cheap clothes that they can wear and wash a couple of times before they discard them which is why the likes of Primark are thriving. The younger (say under 30) generation very rarely buy anything that's built to last, it's all about being 'on trend' and how it looks rather than the build quality. My daughters are 21 & 22 and I make a trip to the charity shop every few weeks with black bags full of clothes that they've worn once and discarded which they justify in their own minds because they only paid £5 for it from Primark or wherever and now it's out of fashion. There'll always be a place for the Norman Walsh companies of this world but the reality is that we live in an age where it's style over substance and thus the 'pile em high sell em cheap' retailers are thriving. But to sell them cheap they need to make them at an almost negligible cost which rules out manufacturing them in any Western Europe country. So I'm not sure it's fair to totally blame the retailers as ultimately they are responding to the consumers habits. Those of us who are fortunate enough to afford to be discerning will continue to be (eg I will pay £1,000 for a suit that will last 15 years rather than £100 for one that will last 12 months) and there'll always be a place for bespoke and niche companies, but the modern world and consumer values mean that cheap and cheerful is the dominant model and will continue to be. As my old granny used to say, the world these days is full of folk who know the price of everything but the value of nowt, and that's the real problem.

As someone who is not a fashion icon by a long way, I buy clothes that do the job. I bought a dark blue suit from Matalan about 5 years ago for £40 and its seen several weddings, a couple of funerals, christenings etc and I also wear it for meeting at work where is suit is required. It's been to the cleaners a few times and still looks fine. I will be using it again for a family wedding in June. On the flip side, I once paid over £100 for a pair of shoes and the sole came away from the shoe after a few months and pi$$ed in water. I suppose luck has a little to do with it also.