Episode Details

Today Nicole is joined by Sarah Collins, who is an ethical production consultant and who has for the last eight years been helping businesses source and develop ethically produced products. If you’re looking to make your fashion brand more ethical and sustainable, then this episode is perfect for you as Sarah will be sharing some really great tips on sourcing and bringing down that carbon footprint.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Sarah has volunteered with The World Trade Organisation, helped women's enterprise in rural areas, and has worked in ethical production for the last ten years.
• She found, people were coming up to her all the time “asking how did you find your manufacturers? How do you know they're ethical?” And they just couldn't get their head around it.
• Think about what positive impact you want to have. So think about your business values and how they translate into manufacturing. This could be to do with your ethics, human rights, workers welfare, sustainability, anything that you are passionate about you should be making part of your business plan.
• A big red flag for Sarah is if a manufacturer is not supplying you with the health and safety and workers rights information you’re asking for. If they don’t want to tell you how ethical they are, then they’re probably not very ethical at all.
• Remember that different people and different countries have different interpretations of what a living wage is. A living wage should always be above the minimum wage and give people that comfort room to not have to worry about money.

BEST MOMENTS

‘It is just such a win-win scenario, and I think you definitely have more sight over that impact you create’

‘You can do it in so many different ways, but it's about avoiding waste. It's about choosing the right materials’

‘The industry isn't going to overnight start paying everyone a living wage’

EPISODE RESOURCES

Website (with sign up form to get free production tracker) - https://www.sarahelencollins.com/welcome

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/saracollins.uk/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-collins-72b6b028/

Free personal carbon footprint calculator which can be a great place for people to start seeing what areas they can focus on within their business - https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

ABOUT THE GUEST

“Having worked within fair trade and ethical production for 8+ years, I’m now on a mission to make mindful & ethical manufacturing accessible for independent brands.

Through my 1:1 work I connect brands who have a genuine desire to create products mindfully and respectfully of people and planet, with manufacturers who are working with this approach. Building strong relationships that are created from shared values and trust is really important to me.

I like to dig deep and get to the core values of the brand and supplier, reviewing standards and evidence based actions that impact the lives of garment workers. Supporting business models and suppliers in reaching fair and ethical standards.”

ABOUT THE HOST

Buying & retail expert Nicole Higgins spent the last 18 years working for companies such as Primark, M&S, Debenhams and Asda, sourcing & developing products from all over the world, building strategies for blue chip businesses, and increasing bottom line sales and profit, adding over £40 million in incremental business to the botto