Save Britain's buttons

A campaign to save the tradition of making horn buttons in Britain is underway, with funding sought to ensure this heritage industry can survive

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horn buttons

An important British manufacturing tradition could be lost forever to China if funding can't be raised by July. When Britain's only large-scale producer of horn buttons, 155-year-old James Grove & Sons in Halesowen, West Midlands, went into receivership last year, most of the factory contents were sold abroad. However, some machinery, and the crucial button patterns and dies, were reserved.

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Now, businessman David Valentine needs to raise £75,000 to keep them in this country. He's raised nearly £7,000 so far, using the investment website CrowdCube (www.crowdcube.com) to bring the total up to £105,000, which would enable manufacturing to restart in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter. ‘Ralph Lauren, Burberry and others have made written pledges of interest in buying from us if we're successful,' says Mr Valentine. ‘If we lose the craft to the Far East, we not only lose an important part of our heritage, but also those fashion houses' buying power from Britain.' Telephone 0121-579 7022 or email enquiries@hornbuttons.co.uk.

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Image from: www.sehkelly.com

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Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.