Birdbrook

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Birdbrook's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Birdbrook is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Blunkett signature Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett, MP
Pickles signature Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles, MP

www.rosettes.com

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
30 | BIRDBROOK
Managing Director CharlesAllen
Birdbrook’s rosettes can be
found in a wide range of events
Birdbrook manufacture and supply rosettes, delivering
their products both to the UK and across the globe. Their
rosettes are manufactured at their Lincolnshire-based
facility, which has just recently received funding from the EU
under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development’s
LEADER programme, as well as the European Regional
Development Fund’s Grants4Growth scheme. Behind the
success of the operation is a strong knowledge of the industry
and close and collaborative relationships with customers.
They’ve established a strong presence in animal shows, and they
have even made a number of television appearances. Managing
Director Charles Allen offers a further insight into the company,
its history and where it’s headed.
From our Lincoln-based factory, we manufacture and supply customised, high-
quality rosettes for a wide range of sectors, including the canine, equine,
agricultural, and political and election sectors in the UK and around the world. Over
the past four decades, we have supplied our top-quality woven-edged polyester
ribbons to household-name brands. Our presence in the dog show business is
particularly strong, not least given our usage in Crufts dog shows – however,
we’re well known in the equine sector too. Although it’s hard to be certain, there
is good reason to believe we are among the largest suppliers of our kind in the
FACTS ABOUT
BIRDBROOK
»Managing Director:
CharlesAllen
»Established in 1973
»Based in Lincoln
»Services: Manufacture and
supply of rosettes
»No. of employees: 9
»A family-run business
»www.rosettes.com
Birdbrook
31BIRDBROOK |
MANUFACTURING & SERVICES
canine world. Among other places, our
rosettes can be found at the following
kinds ofevents:
»The FCI Centenary Show
»World dog shows
»European dog shows
»Charity dog shows
»Breed championship dog shows
»Breed open dog shows
»Agility dog shows
»Obedience dog shows
»Horse shows
»Agricultural shows
»Cage and aviary bird shows
»Cat shows
As an incomplete list, this gives just
a brief glimpse of the wide range of
places in which our rosettes can be
found. In fact, they have featured
in thousands of shows and events
throughout the world – they can even
be found in a number of films and
TV broadcasts, such as
Best in Show
(2000),
Home on the Range
(2004),
The Iron Lady
(2012) and
Bert and
Dickie
(2012), as well as in general and
local elections.
Close relationships, both
within and outside the
company
The story of the company begins in
1972, when my family and I bought
a flat-coated retriever, who went on
to feature in shows. We realised that
as far as rosettes were concerned,
there was a considerable gap in the
market. We started off small, but
slowly and over time gained more and
more clients. Today, we have nine
staff, including myself and my wife
and daughters. As a team, we work
together closely and happily, which we
regard as an important component of
our success.
Our broader mission is to win
the confidence, trust and respect
of clients. This is not just empty
marketing talk; Igenuinely go out of
my way to ensure customers feel that
they’re valued and that their needs
and wants are listened to. Often, this
means travelling abroad. Indeed, many
of our clients are based on the other
side of the globe, so it’s not unusual
for me to fly out to somewhere
like Egypt or India (to give just two
examples). Clients’ satisfaction comes
first, and from that, everything else
follows. Our dedicated and highly
experienced team can be relied upon
to deliver the best-possible service,
the highest-possible quality and the
greatest-possible value.
This close and collaborative customer
service is a distinctive feature of our
company – we’re one of the few that
go out of their way in this manner.
Not only does the customer appreciate
this, but it also wins us loyalty and
thereby ensures repeat custom for the
longterm.
In addition to our fantastic team,
we also have a purpose-built rosette
factory equipped with state-of-the-art
equipment and machinery, including
Delivering for customers
all over the world
We also have
a purpose-built
rosette factory
equipped with
state-of-the-
art equipment
and machinery
“
“
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
30 | BIRDBROOK
Managing Director CharlesAllen
Birdbrook’s rosettes can be
found in a wide range of events
Birdbrook manufacture and supply rosettes, delivering
their products both to the UK and across the globe. Their
rosettes are manufactured at their Lincolnshire-based
facility, which has just recently received funding from the EU
under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development’s
LEADER programme, as well as the European Regional
Development Fund’s Grants4Growth scheme. Behind the
success of the operation is a strong knowledge of the industry
and close and collaborative relationships with customers.
They’ve established a strong presence in animal shows, and they
have even made a number of television appearances. Managing
Director Charles Allen offers a further insight into the company,
its history and where it’s headed.
From our Lincoln-based factory, we manufacture and supply customised, high-
quality rosettes for a wide range of sectors, including the canine, equine,
agricultural, and political and election sectors in the UK and around the world. Over
the past four decades, we have supplied our top-quality woven-edged polyester
ribbons to household-name brands. Our presence in the dog show business is
particularly strong, not least given our usage in Crufts dog shows – however,
we’re well known in the equine sector too. Although it’s hard to be certain, there
is good reason to believe we are among the largest suppliers of our kind in the
FACTS ABOUT
BIRDBROOK
»Managing Director:
CharlesAllen
»Established in 1973
»Based in Lincoln
»Services: Manufacture and
supply of rosettes
»No. of employees: 9
»A family-run business
»www.rosettes.com
Birdbrook
31BIRDBROOK |
MANUFACTURING & SERVICES
canine world. Among other places, our
rosettes can be found at the following
kinds ofevents:
»The FCI Centenary Show
»World dog shows
»European dog shows
»Charity dog shows
»Breed championship dog shows
»Breed open dog shows
»Agility dog shows
»Obedience dog shows
»Horse shows
»Agricultural shows
»Cage and aviary bird shows
»Cat shows
As an incomplete list, this gives just
a brief glimpse of the wide range of
places in which our rosettes can be
found. In fact, they have featured
in thousands of shows and events
throughout the world – they can even
be found in a number of films and
TV broadcasts, such as
Best in Show
(2000),
Home on the Range
(2004),
The Iron Lady
(2012) and
Bert and
Dickie
(2012), as well as in general and
local elections.
Close relationships, both
within and outside the
company
The story of the company begins in
1972, when my family and I bought
a flat-coated retriever, who went on
to feature in shows. We realised that
as far as rosettes were concerned,
there was a considerable gap in the
market. We started off small, but
slowly and over time gained more and
more clients. Today, we have nine
staff, including myself and my wife
and daughters. As a team, we work
together closely and happily, which we
regard as an important component of
our success.
Our broader mission is to win
the confidence, trust and respect
of clients. This is not just empty
marketing talk; Igenuinely go out of
my way to ensure customers feel that
they’re valued and that their needs
and wants are listened to. Often, this
means travelling abroad. Indeed, many
of our clients are based on the other
side of the globe, so it’s not unusual
for me to fly out to somewhere
like Egypt or India (to give just two
examples). Clients’ satisfaction comes
first, and from that, everything else
follows. Our dedicated and highly
experienced team can be relied upon
to deliver the best-possible service,
the highest-possible quality and the
greatest-possible value.
This close and collaborative customer
service is a distinctive feature of our
company – we’re one of the few that
go out of their way in this manner.
Not only does the customer appreciate
this, but it also wins us loyalty and
thereby ensures repeat custom for the
longterm.
In addition to our fantastic team,
we also have a purpose-built rosette
factory equipped with state-of-the-art
equipment and machinery, including
Delivering for customers
all over the world
We also have
a purpose-built
rosette factory
equipped with
state-of-the-
art equipment
and machinery
“
“
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
32 | BIRDBROOK
digital full-colour printers, reel-to-
reel ribbon printers, computerised
ribbon cutters, digital ribbon
printers, and multi-ribbon and
single-ribbonpleaters.
Given our rural location, our success
has also meant local success. As we
grow in size, we engage an increasing
number of people in the community,
which is why we have won recognition
– including an award – for our role
in increasing rural employment.
Recognition of this success also
resulted in us winning a grant from
the EU to upgrade our premises and
machinery. If projections are correct,
we are looking to double our turnover.
Ensuring we don’t get left
behind
Given the benefit we’ve derived
from the European Union, I feel it’s
important that equivalent schemes,
grants and support systems are set
up after Brexit. However, it’s worth
giving credit to local government,
who have also been very helpful in
our sector. Without all of this input,
the agricultural economy surrounding
us would have been considerably
worseoff.
Looking to the future, we are looking
to supply even more sectors in the
UK. We’d also like to make further
inroads into our existing market share,
especially regarding the equine market.
Our growth in capacity will allow us
to supply even more to international
markets and to take on more clients.
The past successes of our company
give us every reason to be optimistic,
and with our newly improved capacity,
we will now have the ability to supply
a level of demand that we were
previously unable to. The market
within which we are operating also
seems to be expanding in many parts
of the world – our job is to make sure
that we are there to tap into it. For us,
it’s onwards and upwards.
Given the
benefit we’ve
derived from
the European
Union, I feel
it’s important
that equivalent
schemes,
grants and
support
systems are
setup
“
“
The Blue Lagoon
International Dog Show
in Malta, of which we
are sponsors
33ALPHA CARD COMPACT MEDIA LTD |
MANUFACTURING & SERVICES
Managing Director IanWhitfield
Alpha Card products can be used
across any sector, for any purpose
Alpha Card is a specialist in printed and folded products
based in Guiseley. Having previously worked alongside
European market leaders as partner, Managing Director
Ian Whitfield decided to utilise the experience he had acquired
by establishing Alpha Card in 2013. It has since expanded
internationally and he has set up subsidiary organisations in
Germany, France and the USA. Ian tells
TheParliamentaryReview
more about his journey over the past six years.
Prior to establishing Alpha Card, we spent many years as the European
manufacturing partner for the market leader in Pocketmedia, Z Card. In 2012,
however, negotiations over the European Z Card business collapsed, so we created
the Alpha Card in response. Although we had manufactured and distributed
over 300 million of these products over a seven-year period, we were largely
unknown because all of our dealings with clients were done through our partner.
Consequently, we faced many challenges in terms of getting established, although
our market-leading quality and value proposition was never in question.
The fact that we are now enjoying the success is a result of the underlying
quality and values we placed at the centre of our business, as well as hard work
of our whole team and their unwavering belief in what we do and what we
offer. We have had to take a proactive sales approach and use digital marketing
as creatively as possible to raise awareness of our business and products, and
compete with a market leader whose name is used generically to describe
theproduct.
FACTS ABOUT
ALPHA CARD COMPACT
MEDIALTD
»Managing Director: IanWhitfield
»Established in 2013
»Based in Guiseley, near
Leeds, with manufacturing
partnership facilities in the
UK and Poland and subsidiary
companies in Germany, the
USA and France
»Services: Specialist printed and
folded products helping clients
to create engagement with
their content
»No. of employees: 12
»Experience of producing
and distributing close to
400 million of our products
throughout Europe, North
America and Africa
»www.alpha-cards.com
Alpha Card Compact
Media Ltd

www.rosettes.com

This article was sponsored by Birdbrook. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from Rt Hon Michael Gove.

Rt Hon Michael Gove's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By Rt Hon Michael Gove

This year's Parliamentary Review comes at a momentous time for parliament, as we collectively determine the destiny of the United Kingdom. 

On October 31, the UK will leave the European Union. The successful implementation of this process is this government's number-one priority.

Three years after a historic referendum vote, we will deliver on the decisive mandate from the British people. Trust in our democracy depends on it. Until that final hour, we will work determinedly and diligently to negotiate a deal, one that abolishes the backstop and upholds the warm and close relationship we share with our friends, allies and neighbours in the EU. But in the event that the EU refuses to meet us at the table, we must be prepared to leave without a deal.

As the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, it is my job to lead on this government's approach, should that scenario happen. Preparing for Brexit is my department's driving mission. But while I am leading this turbocharged effort, the whole of government is committed to this endeavour.

Ministers across Whitehall are working together to ensure that every possibility is considered, every plan is scrutinised and every provision is made. A daily drumbeat of meetings means that we are holding departments accountable, so that preparations are completed on time.

The chancellor has confirmed that all necessary funding will be made available. And we have mobilised thecivil service, assigning 15,000 of our most talented civil servants to manage our exit from the EU.

We will make sure that on November 1, there is as little disruption to national life as possible. Our trade relationships will continue to thrive, thanks to agreements with countries around the world worth £70 billion. Our country will remain secure, thanks to nearly 1,000 new officers posted at our borders. And the 3.2 million EU nationals now living and working among us can remain confident, with absolute certainty, of their right to remain in the UK.

Above all, our goal is to be transparent. Soon, we will launch a public information campaign so that citizens, communities and businesses are ready and reassured about what will happen in the event of “no deal”.

In my first few weeks in this role, I have travelled to ports and tarmacs, borders and bridges, all across the UK –from the seaside of Dover to the rolling green hills of County Armagh. I have heard from business owners and border officials, farmers and hauliers. They are ready to put an end to uncertainty. And they are ready to embrace the opportunities ahead.

Our departure from the EU will be a once in a lifetime chance to chart a new course for the United Kingdom. Preparing for that new course will be a herculean effort. But this country has made astounding efforts before. We can do it again.
Rt Hon Michael Gove
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster