If you have ever wondered 'what makes Ethical Supplies different?' then read on for a brief history about how Ethical Supplies began and how we have continued to grow and succeed despite challenges that have come along the way.
In 1985 our founder Jonathan Harrison started working for The General Welfare of the Blind selling the soap, toiletries and cleaning products the blind and disabled workers made to homes and small businesses across the North of England. Despite the challenges of this type of work, the concept that our working life can be spent in a way that includes supporting employment for some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of our society can be extremely satisfying.
In the 1990’s The General Welfare of the Blind started trading as Clarity - Employment for Blind People. Changes in the market place and rising costs over the following 20 years made supporting disabled workers in supported employment increasingly difficult for Clarity as well as other similar but larger organisations such as Remploy.
From 2010 to 2020 Clarity – Employment for Blind People started to lose money on an annual basis and sadly in early 2020 it fell into administration. It was bought out of liquidation, however the new owners appear to be struggling with historic issues and are having difficulty re-starting production as quickly as was hoped.
Despite all of the above the desire of Jonathan and the staff employed at The Ethical Supplies Company to continue to support ethical trading remains strong, we are now supplying products that help to provide employment for more disabled and disadvantaged workers than ever before.
In 2022 over 26,000 units of our high-quality Ethical Supplies Hand Washes, Body Washes, Soaps & Shampoos were packed & labelled by over 80 disabled staff at Yateley Industries for the disabled (Charity No. 229571) providing much needed and highly valued work. We are hoping to increase the volume of work provided for Yateley’s disabled workers in 2023.
We also sell products on behalf of;
Arthouse Unlimited (Charity No. 1177900) who employ approximately 90 autistic and disabled workers.
The Blind Soap Maker, a small business producing high quality soaps and toiletries which was started by and is owned by a Blind lady, Alexandra Charlotte Negoita.
In addition to the above we supply high quality soaps, toiletries and cleaning products that are made by small companies in towns and cities across the UK providing much needed manufacturing jobs to UK workers in these challenging times.
398 of the 400 of the product lines we currently supply are actually manufactured in the United Kingdom, only 2 of our 400 lines (less than a quarter of 1%) are manufactured outside the UK & this is because they cannot currently be sourced locally.
Over 70% of the products we supply directly support employment for disabled and disadvantaged workers in UK registered charities, small business and social enterprises.
Jonathan and the team greatly appreciate your continued support as we continue our mission to supply only the very finest quality products and expand ethical trading in the UK.
Please accept our very best wishes from everyone at The Ethical Supplies Company