Sustainability...
Sustainability matters to us. All our products are make from UK sourced high quality 'hard drawn' wire, not to be confused with the commonly used 'mild steel' wire, which will rust away in no time. Because we work all our wire by hand, without the need for heat, our wire remains very strong and springy. Both ideal for your garden and the planet as we use minimal energy to make our products (more human energy than mechanical). The strength and longevity of our plant supports, set them apart from the mainstream.
Quality and responsibility...
We take great pride in the quality of our work, everything is still handmade by a small team of perfectionists. Not only are we passionate about the quality of every product that leave Plant Belles HQ, but we are passionate about the planet. Being green and sustainable has always been our mantra. We are very proud to manufacture in the UK, keeping our carbon footprint teeny tiny.
Our production techniques require minimal energy demands, demands mostly fulfilled by our own renewable energy source. All our material are sourced as locally as possible, we continue to use British Steel, we recycle and reuse packaging where ever possible, and we carefully consider the need every time plastic is used.
Work-life balance...
Over the past 12 years we have been steadily growing in size and capability. The challenges we faced during the pandemic made us rethink our next chapter, we have begun working differently. In order to retain the integrity of our small cottage industry, we decided to scale back a little, making and selling less Plant Belle products than recent years. Our hope is to get back to our old way of working, to restore a healthy work-life-balance.
Remember we make absolutely everything ourselves, here in our Devon workshops. We take great pride in the quality of our handmade products, working to our high standards takes time. So, beginning from Autumn 2021, we began to trial a year of two halves, Autumn to Christmas making, then January to July delivering. So far so good.
Since 2022 the online shop opens with our full range from early January to June 30th. For this 6 months our focus will be helping with orders, packing, sending and delivering as efficiently as possible. Winter is our production season, all hands on deck at the workbenches.
In recent years we have found ourselves with more orders than stock, requiring customers to wait patiently whilst we 'made-to-order', this is not an efficient or enjoyable way of working. Therefore, we sometimes need to limit the stock available each month until a new batch of items are made. If items appearing 'out of stock', don't worry, more will be available soon.