Do you want to buy a British kettle? Go whistle

Britons might never again get the chance to buy an electric kettle made in the UK.

- Phillip Inman

Even a £150 kettle from Dualit, the company most famous for making its celebrated toaster in Crawley, West Sussex, is produced by Chinese workers 5,000 miles away.

Most consumers think the whereabouts of the factory or assembly plant riveting their latest purchase together is irrelevant, but those who do want it to be produced locally do not have a choice.

There have been "buy British" campaigns in the past, and supermarkets, under pressure to show their support for UK farmers, continue to plaster domestic produce with union jack labels.

These days it might seem a bit Trumpian to talk about fostering homegrown kettle making.

And Malcolm Featherstone, who wants his nascent company to be part of a manufacturing renaissance, stood as a Reform candidate in Harlow, Essex, in last year's general election.

Yet, this seasoned business executive, one of three founders behind the British Domestic Appliance Company, is tapping into the climate crisis debate and the post-pandemic concern about economic security much more than he is a sense of nostalgia for a bygone age.

Sadly, he has tried to drum up interest in his latest scheme - manufacturing kettles under the brand Chameleon – to no avail.