NOTE FROM THE FOUNDERS
A resolute new year
The turn of a new year inevitably leads to a moment of self-reflection. As a brand and as founders, we have been thinking about our intentions for the year ahead; namely how we can ensure our impact is a positive one. We've broken this down below into three key areas of focus.
We are proud that every Bennett Winch bag is made by hand in the Carlisle and London workshops by our team of master craftspeople, and in 2022 we will be welcoming nine new makers to the factory floor. We are also partnering with The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), supporting excellence in British Craftsmanship - you'll be hearing more about this later in the year.
We are not a fashion brand and therefore do not work to seasonal cycles that encourage trend-led consumption. Instead, we make in small batches and advocate investing in fewer, better products that are built for the long haul. The lifetime guarantee we offer on every bag and accessory we make is not a marketing gimmick. We decided on this from day one, because while it's rarely needed, we favour the sometimes forgotten art of fixing things over throwing them away. To us longevity is king in the battle against landfill.
At the start of 2021 we partnered with 1% for the Planet and in doing so made a commitment to donate 1% of company revenue (not profit) annually to charities tackling environmental issues. We've been working closely with them to decide which specific organisations within their network will receive these funds, and will keep you posted.
There’s no escaping the fact that humans need tools to live in the modern world, but far less than we’re led to believe. We remain hard at work in the Farringdon studio, fixed on our mission to create genuinely useful products that out-perform and out-last their best in class predecessors, reinvent categories and reimagine the output of traditional skills. We have an exciting pipeline of concepts and look forward to getting them from sketch to reality in the coming months. Sign up to our mailing list at the bottom of this page to be the first to know when they drop.
The last thing to say is a simple, but heartfelt thank you to all our customers, followers and friends who have supported us in 2021. You continue to allow us to build a brand, product range and team we are incredibly proud of. So here’s to 2022, doing everything with soul and purpose, and bags of good adventure.