TOT: Branston pickle

[Roger Hayter]

I suspect it would take a brave man to tolerate the sharp edges on Yorkie bars.

[Steve Walker]

Not necessarily. A little different I know, but I visited a printworks (Lawson Mardon Packaging and Flexibles in Workington) some years ago and one of their machines was spending the next four days, printing a 1.2m width, at 100m per minute of Italian Kit-Kat wrappers. I think they were destined for a UK factory.

It is perfectly possible that some items destined for Arabic speaking countries are actually made in the UK.

How they then get into UK shops would be another matter!

SteveW

[Marland]

Moving even more OT that reminds when I did a stint as a temporary hand in a brewery over the busy Christmas period many many years ago. The bottling line was fed by precut labels for the product being processed and the labels had to be placed as blocks in the appropriate feed location for the labelling machinery. These blocks first had to unpacked from how they arrived from the supplier which was wrapped in sheets of printed labels uncut, various products were involved some mundane like Bonus dog food others more colourful . I got myself several yards of Guinness labels which were utilised as wrapping paper for Christmas presents which actually looked very attractive, most recipients asked where I had got the really nice wrapping paper from.

GH

[spuorgelgoog]

No, just a clapped-out transit van going through the Channel tunnel.

Owain

[Andrew]

Unlike Michelin who don't want to make 16 inch tyres at Dundee any longer.

What's wrong with 16 inch tyres ?. My Astra has them and Michelin always lasted longer - maybe that's the problem.

[Tim+]

Issue explained here.

In short, 16? wheels aren?t ?cool?.

Tim

[ARW]

So what do the transgender people eat then?

[ARW]

:-)

Just what I was thinking.

[Marland]

A finger of fudge?

GH

[spuorgelgoog]

A finger of fudge is just enough ...

Owain

[The Natural Philosopher]

Hair pie, mostly

[whisky-dave]

So things will get cheaper after BREXIT then via such sources or amazon perhaps ebay.

[whisky-dave]

Now then, now then, was that not a finger of fudge to give your kids a treat, now then boys and girls can you fix it for me to have fudge on my finger......

[Dave Plowman (News)]

16" seems to be not as popular as it once was. Michelin being a premium brand likely needs to concentrate on tyres for upmarket cars which usually have much larger wheels than 16". I doubt they can compete at the budget end of the market.

[Scott]

Why can't Dundee make the upmarket tyres and lower cost sites make the budget tyres? I assumed the process would be sufficiently automated that labour cost would not be a major factor (though there are 850 working there). There would also be savings in transport and shorter lead times.

[cpvh]

11::^*>>))

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I dunno the full story, but it seems that factory either can't make the larger tyres or Michelin already have sufficient capacity for those elsewhere.

[T i m]

And the wages are lower elsewhere ... something the fanatic Brexiteers seem to think is just a matter of putting the prices up?

'Of course' everyone will be happy to pay more for stuff just to have it made by more expensive and less productive workers in the UK, but at least they will be British workers that will end up being made redundant as these companies close and / or go abroad.

Maybe what we want is a British made car with a 17.5" wheel and then we can carry on paying over the odds to have them made in the UK (till they remember they make them cheaper in France, Poland, Spain, Germany, the USA, Canada, Brazil, Thailand, Japan and Italy etc).

Maybe these workers can take their redundancy and start up 'British only' care homes, run by and for 'British People'. I wonder how long it would last? At least old people don't eat much, just as well if food prices rise if we actually ever leave the EU ...

Where do they grow tapioca? ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Richard]

Bingo.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Care to give details of the wages in other Michelin factories? I'll help you out:-

Michelin produces tyres in France, Poland, Spain, Germany, the USA, the UK, Canada, Brazil, Thailand, Japan, Italy and several other countries.