Crackdown urged over kilt cheats

[Rob Wright]

There's also the option of buying from a craftsman TRAINED in Scotland in the traditional way, with all the certifications of the craft, who orders up the fabric from Scottish mills, but sews the finished product in another country convenient to their countrymen.

I think I could lay out any of my hand sewn traditionals from Kathy Lare next to a hand sewn traditional sewn in Scotland and have her craftsmanship gain the approval of the most educated kiltmaking judge.

Ron

I have two hand sewn tanks from Scotland and a hand sewn tank from Kathy Ron, Her work more is more than adequate

Rob

[highlander_Daz]

I agree with this policy , I think theres a mix up here on the thread the clampdown is on products NOT made in Scotland but dishonestly claiming to be. Im sure Kiltmakers in the US and elsewhere are every bit as competant as here, but as long as the product states "made in the US" or wherever thats fine. a Kilt made superbly by and experienced kiltmaker in the states is every bit as good as one made here.
However many products are using misleading labels to "pass off" products as "made in Scotland" to trap the unwary, and once again its our old friends on the royal mile who will sell tourists ANYTHING and can I add that the people behind most of these tartan and Saltire festooned shops are NOT Scots.

I have some excelent bagpipe seasoning and is states "Made as Scotland" which when you look closely is actually made in Pakistan.

The issue I have with these Eastern made products is the exploitation of the people who make these and its firms like NIke and hilfigger etc that pay these people peanuts and rake in ££££££££s

Another example is call centres many banks have fired british workers and transferred call centres to the far east so if you ring your bank you get through to india, with all due respect to the people there many struggle to understand the wide range of Accents in the UK and one chap wanted to know if Inverness was near Cardiff? again all to save money.

Its a very deep subject, I want to see Scots firms and skills like Kiltmaking and bagpipemaking to thrive and for people to look to Scotland for these things , but taxation and "red tape" imposed by Westminster and not challanged by Holyrood crank up the overheads for many firms making labour intensive products like traditional kilts very expensive to manufacture in the UK.

[Mike n NC]

Its a very deep subject, I want to see Scots firms and skills like Kiltmaking and bagpipemaking to thrive and for people to look to Scotland for these things , but taxation and "red tape" imposed by Westminster and not challanged by Holyrood crank up the overheads for many firms making labour intensive products like traditional kilts very expensive to manufacture in the UK.

Daz that is pretty much the point of my cottage business comment. What with NAFTA and the like, favored status trade agreements with China, Japan and who knows where else, not to mention the taxation without representation going on over here...it is no wonder that business and jobs are leaving the country faster than we can count. Thus it becomes very important that people like Rocky, Alexis Malcolm or Kathy Lane here in the states, Bear, Steve and the guys in Canada keep the industry alive. They produce a quality product at a (very) reasonable price. :smile: It may well fall to people in Scotland to do the same
Do we still buy up the imports? Sure but, in my case at least, I try to spread my business around and leave the inexpensive inports for times I want to protect the good stuff.

Mike