With a bespoke, state-of-the-art online platform and extensive B2B marketing resources at our disposal, there are many easy-win benefits to joining the British Craft Directory (BCD) if you are making your products in the UK and are ready to sell to retail.
As our only criteria is that your products are made in Britain, we welcome designer-makers from any discipline – be it fine art, paper products or ceramics, glasswork, textiles, woodwork, metal or jewellery. If you are hoping to get your creations in front of retailers, this is the website for you.
With an unbeatable value offering of just £60 a year, any business, no matter how large or small, can participate and benefit from our B2B trade platform and marketing services.
BCD is a B2B service that promotes British crafts to retailers from the UK and overseas. We are not an ecommerce site or web shop where consumers can buy your items directly from your profile page here.
We are here to help you be discovered by retailers who are interested in stocking British-made products and to maintain a robust online presence which will help you stand out from the crowd and attract followers to your own websites and ecommerce portals.
As the cost-of-living crisis deepens, everyone’s budgets are being squeezed. As companies find it harder to meet the investment of physical shows, so are retailers struggling to take time away from their shops to make increasingly expensive journeys and overnight stays so they can attend shows.
In effect, we are an online trade show and whilst we can’t replicate the fully immersive experience offered by face-to-face events, we can greatly facilitate trade between companies who are unable to physically meet for whatever reason.
Physical shows and exhibitions DO have a crucial role to play in the B2B equation – indeed, they are indispensable - but the online space is a vital resource which can supplement trade shows 24/7 throughout the year.
Perhaps you are based in the far north of England but wish to find retail outlets in the depths of Cornwall or Kent and don’t know how to forge those connections without making a large-scale investment in a physical exhibition.
Maybe you would like to attract buyers from overseas but don’t know how you can make the first steps towards achieving that goal.
Or you might have just had a baby, invested in a new workshop or equipment, started a college course or planned a working retreat which means your time and resources are spread thinner than usual. You will return to physical shows when time and money allow, but for now you need to maintain your trade presence without too much expenditure.
Anyone with a website or web shop needs to find ways to optimise their online presence through backlinks. Our well optimised and indexed online hub and marketing network will not just help you be found on the British Craft Directory but will also help raise the online profile of your own website.
All for a very small investment of £60 for a year-long profile listing – less than the price of a classified advert in a printed magazine, a batch of Instagram/Facebook/Twitter promos, etc.
Our marketing contact database includes almost 1500 of retailers who have expressed a direct interest in purchasing British handmade products, over 3000 general trade subscribers including, On social media we have a combined Instagram following of almost 7,000, a carefully curated Linkedin profile with around 2,000 trade contacts and more than 1500 followers between Facebook and Twitter.
As well as the BCD itself our sister publication, Home & Giftware magazine, is well respected in the trade both in the UK and abroad, running marketing and PR campaigns throughout the year for various trade exhibitions within Britain and overseas.
Our web developer, Denre, has honed his technical craft for almost 30 years, moving from high level corporate IT security to the varied and creative world of online shows, media publishing and web shops. As renowned for his unparalleled customer support as he is for his friendly face at trade shows, Dutchman Denre has lived in the UK for over 20 years but is also our bridge to mainland Europe and the Netherlands B2B trade.
As well as creating the British Craft Directory, Denre can also help you set up or upgrade your own webshop or advise you on technical requirements.
Our Editor, Charlotte, has almost 2 decades of experience in the UK gift, home and crafting trade, with connections and subscribers from every part of the retail sector: Gift shops, art galleries, garden centres, farm shops, fashion boutiques, jewellery stores, craft collectives, museum shops and other heritage sites, visitor centres, department stores, you name it, they are all in her address book!
Charlotte also works with leading industry PR agency, Hornby Whitefoot PR, which affords her unrivalled insight into the garden centre trade - an increasingly important retail sector for many British trade suppliers.
We don’t just take your money then forget about you, or leave you to fend for yourselves! Both Denre and Charlotte are fully engaged with the British Craft Directory and easily contactable by phone or email if there’s anything you’d like to discuss with us or you’d like any advice on the ecommerce side of your business.