Meet the new wave of makers inspiring a revival of Great British manufacturing

THE STORY of Brighton’s £1 billion digital and tech cluster has been well documented.

Lesser known but equally compelling is the quiet rise of a new generation of creative makers and engineers, who combine traditional and modern techniques in a bid to solve some of the 21st century’s biggest problems.

While there is no blueprint for this new wave of makers, many are younger, or in second careers, and looking for a hands-on working life away from the desk-bound nine to five.

And seven innovative start-ups can be found at FIELD, a pilot project giving free work space at Preston Barracks on Lewes Road, before the site is redeveloped.

Preston Barracks developer U+I, formerly the Cathedral Group, is behind the concept, which aims to empower entrepreneurial makers, inventors, engineers and product designers – and bring new life to the once great British manufacturing industry.

They were given a mission to create a sustainable, scalable business that designs or makes physical products, to high quality of design, engineering or craftsmanship.

One FIELD resident who makes no pretensions to be reinventing the wheel is Andrew Bailey of Flux Cycle Works.

His problem – to reduce the heavy traffic which causes noise, disruption, pollution and illness in our cities – is a grand one.

But his contention that bicycles are the solution is relatively straightforward.

He believes the world took a wrong turn 100 years ago when it wholeheartedly adopted the motor car, and that a return to pedal power would be in everyone’s best interests.

More than just a mode of personal transport or fitness hobby, he hopes his prototype of a cargo bike will be able to carry as much weight as a white van.

“Cars are noisy, polluting, expensive and make us fat, unfit and grumpy," Andrew said.

“So many cars you see on stuck in traffic Lewes Road have just one person inside.

“This is causing a huge amount of congestion – but no-one is looking at bikes as a solution.

“We joke here about how Sussex used to be this huge hub for manufacturing and engineering, but there’s nothing here anymore.

"Hopefully we are doing something to bring it back."

Andrew believes his bikes could be used for deliveries, drop-offs, as well as the school run and other short journeys.

He predicts his prototype will be able to carry 50-60kg – if not more.

Another FIELD resident is looking to a slower-pace of life to escape the digital noise of modern life.

Max Grew, co-founder of Intrepid Camera wants people to to take more time and care over photography, in a world saturated with throwaway digital images taken on smart phones.

The handmade wooden 4×5 film camera combines modern manufacturing with traditional carpentry for a lightweight professional product.

The camera has already sold out a 500 pre-order run via Kickstarter, and is meant to be an affordable option for young photographers looking to try our large format photography who would otherwise be priced out of the market.

“The camera is about taking your time, getting to know the landscape, and taking one a two pictures," he said.

“It’s the cheapest long-form camera you can get.

“The whole idea is stop this art form dying out and preserve photography as a slow art form.”

Down the hall is another inventor who is drawing on years of experience to develop a tech product which is disguised inside more traditional craft-work.

Noel Sesto originally tried to develop his mobile phone operated entry systems some 10 years ago, but said the market was not ready for it.

But with the emergence of the mobile phone as the most central piece of technology in modern life, he has now gone full circle and is back working on entry systems with his start-up Control Freq.

“Ten years ago people weren’t interested in it, so I got involved in other things around intercoms and taxi systems”, he said.

“More recently I came back to the idea and I sounded out a carpark company to provide remotely managed mobile phone access.

“So after 10 years of going through the motions I’ve come full circle back to entry system which are now ready for market.”

The difference now is Noel is putting a twist on the entry systems by building bespoke covers for individual customers and corporate clients.

Taking inspiration from architecture, the designs are meant to reflect modern design trends.

“I want to do something that’s not on the market," he added. "I’ve had the technology designed for four years, but it’s the presentation we’re trying to change.”

Doing some altogether different, but still fusing the modern with the traditional, is Play Talk Learn.

A start-up dedicated to innovating early learning, the company’s product is a set of intelligent blocks that use colour to bring mathematical patterns to life.

Using academic research as its starting point, Play Talk Learn aims to give pre-school and early school children an engaging way to play, talk and learn maths.

Co-founder Zakir Mohmed said his daughter’s remark that maths was boring formed part of the inspiration for the product.

“A lot of STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] learning forces on product design.

“But there’s very little focus on learning maths because people see it as boring.

“We want to show maths is fun and try and change perceptions.”

James Nettleton, who leads U+I’s work with creative entrepreneurs and is overseeing FIELD, explained the motivations behind the project.

“We want this exciting space to bring together like-minded people in a community that thrives on the free exchange of ideas", he said.

"Our ultimate goal is to create a large scale campus for high growth design and technology businesses as part of the regeneration of Preston Barracks. The temporary FIELD project is key to shaping what the future of this place looks like.”

"These start-ups embody what this project is all about: innovation and new ways of tackling challenges. Whether it's finding solutions to the global food crisis or finding affordable manufacturing processes for cargo bikes and photography equipment, the new companies were selected as they are all meaningfully different and utilise innovation for the greater good.”

"The focus of the project is to unlock the blockages for growth that early-stage businesses find in the city - not having flexible or affordable or the right places to work."

OTHER innovative start-ups at Field include an engineering group which is using 3D printing to build an electric motorbike.

Union Motion is a newly formed engineering and innovation group working on electric power systems for lightweight but powerful vehicles.

It plans to incorporate metal fabrication, 3D printing and electrical systems design to produce the motorbikes.

Meanwhile the Bug Boys is making sustainable food out of farmed insects and Play Talk Learn, an education tech company, develops children’s toys that bring mathematical patterns to life.

Bug Boys’ product is based on the growing consensus that protein-rich insects could become a sustainable global food source in the future.

As well as being cheap and sustainable, bugs are also becoming trendy among foodies, with Mexican street food restaurant Wahaca recently putting crickets on the menu.

P Kirkwood is creating handcrafted, functional and stylish leather goods.

Paula has worked in fashion and textiles for the past 20 years, most recently the textile charity Traid where she ran its in-house studio Traidremade.

During this time she created clothes for MTV and XFM presenters, comedian Mel Giedroyc and broadcaster Lauren Laverne while she was on-air seamstress for Twiggy’s Frock Exchange.

She now creates functional and stylish utility goods, with luxurious high grade veg tan leather, denim and canvas.

As well as the resident makers, Field is also home to The Old Tree, a café where nearly everything is grown, foraged or “intercepted”.

Using home-grown plants and weeds like nettles and dandelions, Old Tree also uses fruit that would otherwise be chucked in the bin.

The café is open five days a week for breakfast and lunch, serving dishes such as sprouted hummus and chickpea wraps, mashed avocado pesto and dehydrated granola – made from sprouted buckwheat, walnuts and hemp seeds.

The Old Tree initiative first got going two years ago when ecologist Tom Daniell foraged hundreds of wild elderflowers between Brighton and Lewes to make elderflower champagne.

Last year it joined forces with trendsetting, zero-waste restaurant Silo in Brighton’s North Laine.

The Wood Store, which collects timber for reuse and recycling, also operates from the site.

It was one of the first schemes of its kind in the country, and was founded as hundreds of thousands of tonnes of wood were sent to landfill every year.