CAPS & CLOSURES 25 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 03/23 www.petpla.net Brothers Make a business of saving the planet Browning Motion by Ruari McCallion The seaside city of Bournemouth, Southern England, has a dual personality. It has been a much-loved holiday and short break resort since the 19th Century but it also has a long and distinguished manufacturing history. Away from the beaches, tucked away down a rutted lane on the northern outskirts of the city, is a collection of large barns and warehouse-style boxes, which house a range of start-ups, cottage industries and small businesses. We met: Matt Browning, Director and Co-Founder Brothers Make probably qualifies under all three headings. As its name indicates, it was founded by two brothers: Matt and Jonny Browning. They started with (and still produce) a series of ‘how to’ videos on YouTube, showing subscribers how to recycle bottle tops and waste plastic into something new – signs, stool seats, pens, pots, cutting boards, combs and even jewellery. Their YouTube channel, which has been running for five years, now has over 250,000 subscribers. They sell their products in Bournemouth, further afield in England’s southern counties and to international customers, as well. Matt, who greeted me at the door of their small workshop located in a corner of one of the large units, reckons they have sold something to someone in most countries across the world. He was working as a teacher at a secondary school (high school) until only a few months ago, when he went full time with the business. Matt and Jonny want to keep plastic from landfill and to show what is possible, even at a small scale. The first thing Matt made was a plasticheaded mallet, which he still has in the workshop. The impetus to turn what was an interesting side-line into a business came from the Sixth Form (final two years) students at the school where he was teaching. “The students came up with the idea of making some pens. I had never made a pen before but I was prepared to try it,” he says. “We made some pens out of recycled plastic and the kids loved it. We made a YouTube video, even though I was a bit hesitant because I was worried we weren’t very good at it but we did it and it turned out to be our most successful video up till then. We went from 6,000 subscribers to 60,000 in about two weeks.” Brothers Make’s products all have a marbled appearance. This is deliberate; far from trying to conceal the use of recycled plastics or to make them look as much like virgin material as possible, the look is part of the image. They deliberately set out to make clear to users that their cutting board, jewellery, signs, coffee tables or whatever are reusing plastic, not exploiting natural resources. Brothers Make still makes pens from recycled plastic but now uses stainless steel mechanics that are finished with a plastic external barrel. They aren’t bargain bucket prices but each one is hand made and unique: no two patterns are the same. It’s like having your very own NFT (non-fungible token) and being able to hold it and write with it! The majority of sales are through Brothers Make’s online shop, with about a third of total revenues generated by direct sales at street markets, fairs and trade shows. Sales to businesses are actively pursued and promoted. A big order is already in: 64,000 beads for a local jewellery company. “We can work with businesses to either make products for them to sell or for branded products as promotion items or for use within the company,” Matt explains. “We can make that for them CAPS & CLOSURES Brothers Make recycle bottle caps and other plastic waste to make new items, like these jewellery pieces.
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