Recently the Young Enterprise company, Fleet Oxford, approached Laura wanting to know if Just Trade would be interested in working with them. Intrigued to find out more, Laura agreed to a Skype meeting and last week met Bella, Tasha and Olivia, three of the thirteen Sixth Form students from Oxford High School who run Fleet. She was impressed to find out that they had already won four awards and were now through to the National Final of the Young Enterprise Company of the Year 2015, which will be held tomorrow on 2nd July in London – fingers crossed for win number five!
Fleet sells hand-made, ethically sourced jewellery from Bangladesh. They chose to sell jewellery because they wanted to market a product that was unique and had an ethical element to it. They source their products from a co-operative in Bangladesh, which was established in 2011 and now employs more than forty women. With a strong commitment to fair trade principles, it has submitted an application to receive World Fair Trade Organisation status. It employs underprivileged women who are often survivors of abuse and human trafficking. They are offered training and a salary that is higher than the minimum wage, allowing them to support their families. The co-operative also provides an education for their children to ensure that the cycle of poverty and victimisation is broken. Obviously all of these issues are close to Just Trade’s heart, so we were keen to see the actual jewellery.
The jewellery is primarily made from recycled materials including brass and sari fabrics. Olivia told Laura that the jewellery had been selling internationally and many lines had already sold out. Presented in distinctive packaging, designed and personalised by members of the Fleet team, the jewellery makes a great gift. Each purchase is packaged with a card explaining more about the fantastic co-operative where the jewellery was sourced.
Not only have Fleet been selling at markets, shows and online they have embraced the 21st century in promoting their products on social media platforms; check them out on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram, or visit their website and bag yourself one of their great products! Watch this space to see where this exciting brand goes…
Facebook – http://facebook.com/fleetoxford Twitter – https://twitter.com/fleetoxford Blog - http://fleetoxford.weebly.com Instagram – https://instagram.com/fleetoxford Tumblr – http://fleetoxford.tumblr.com