Best in class

From traditionally harvested Scottish sea salt to world-renowned cutlery and weatherproof knitwear fit for Shackleton, Julie Harding selects outstanding British-made products with makers that fly the flag for independent manufacturing

- Julie Harding

Blackthorn Salt’s sea-salt flakes

The clue is in the name: Ayrshire-based Blackthorn Salt uses the spiny branches of Prunus spinosa to manufacture its unbleached sea-salt flakes in the country's only traditional graduation tower (‘A tower of thorns’, February 21, 2024). Hundreds of thousands of branches are hung inside it, working in harmony with a series of channels and 54 wooden taps that are adjusted daily depending on the weather to assist the evaporation of seawater.

Thanks to their tannins, the branches also lend a uniquely savoury umami flavour to the finished salt flakes, which have won a coveted three-star Great Taste Award. ‘Our production process ensures an exceptional taste,’ asserts Whirly Marshall, whose husband, Gregorie, founded the company. Salt runs in his family and in the area: the West Coast of Scotland was once famed for its salt output and Blackthorn's tower is close to the sites of the Newton, Craigie and Alyson salt pans, where for centuries seawater was evaporated over coal.

From £4.90 for 120g;www.blackthornsalt.co.uk

Arthur Beale’s oiled-wool pullovers

‘Someone once told me that we have a ridiculous business model because our jumpers last for such a long time,’ jokes Arthur Beale’s managing director Hugh Taylor. They certainly have history: a grainy photograph from the early 1900s shows Sir Ernest Shackleton sporting an Arthur Beale rollneck. He is only one of many adventurers who have chosen to wear this 525-year-old firm’s toasty pullovers in Earth's most inhospitable places.