Why slippers are a city’s best friend

At 65 London Street in Norwich you’ll find the Bowhill and Elliott shoe shop – sandwiched between a cafe and a charity shop. This October the company will be celebrating its 150 ^th anniversary. It is fiercely proud of its Norfolk roots.

If you go through a door at the back of the Bowhill and Elliott store, there’s a small but elite team of shoemakers creating exquisite velvet slippers.

Here, in this building, is evidence of why a strong domestic manufacturing sector is good for an economy – both local and national. During my travels with The Factory Next Door, I am reminded time and again how manufacturers spread jobs and wealth creation across our island.

Service sectors such as finance and legal are tremendously important to our economy. We need them. They provide jobs and generate wealth – but they cluster.

“When it comes to tradeable international services, such as law and banking, they cram into small areas. Then you are left with imbalances. We are a geographically and economically imbalanced country” explains BBC R4 presenter Evan Davis, who recently appeared on the podcast

A decade ago, Evan did a documentary series and wrote a book called ‘Made in Britain’. He believes geographical spread is a plus point when it comes to maintaining a healthy domestic manufacturing sector.

“If you let manufacturing go in areas of the country that are not going to attract a concentration of international tradable services, it’s much harder for them to do anything tradable – so you’re maintaining the imbalances.”

For Marc Debieux, managing director of Bowhill and Elliott, having a manufacturing site behind the shop is about more than providing employment – it’s about nurturing economic growth in the area.

“We want people to come here and see the city. So we do what’s called a local price. You get £50 off a pair of our slippers in-store,” Marc explains.

“If you buy in store, rather than online, you have to come here, and you’re likely to buy a coffee or go for a dinner or stay in a hotel, and you put your money into Norwich and we all benefit.”

“We want the cluster effect – we all do well if we all do well.”

In short, if our biggest service industries directly boost a select few cities, our manufacturers provide vital economic support to dozens and dozens of cities and towns across our island.

When I popped to Norwich to record an episode with Marc, do you know what I did? I grabbed a coffee from the café next door (single-shot cappuccino, “Chocolate on top?” “Yes please!”) True, that’s only £3.50, but I also marvelled at the beauty of the city’s cathedral and its historic centre. I think I’ll go back with the family for a weekend.

Shop bowhillandelliott.co.uk/