What It Feels Like Inside a Small Business Right Now
Thoughts from Palava, following our feature on Channel 4 News
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Running a small, values-led clothing business right now is both a privilege and a daily test of resilience. The news cycle often talks in sweeping headlines — trade deals, interest rates, inflation — but behind each of those terms are real people, real pressures, and small businesses like ours trying to find a way through and even more importantly, trying to do this in a way that helps us sleep at night.
Since the UK left the EU, one of the biggest challenges we’ve faced has been losing access to our European customers. We’ve had people ring us upset, even angry, because of the unexpected import duties and delays they now face when trying to buy our clothes. For a brand that worked hard to build trust and a loyal following across Europe, this has been heartbreaking.
At the same time, the cost of making things properly keeps rising — raw materials, labour, postage, even buttons. We’ve always believed in making clothing that’s both sustainable and attainable, but that gets harder every year. We’re constantly working behind the scenes to balance quality, ethics, and price — without ever compromising on what we stand for.
In the last 40 years, UK manufacturing has been gutted. We’ve watched as local skills were lost, small factories closed, and a generation of making was quietly dismantled in favour of speed and profit. But we’re proud to be part of a new movement trying to turn that tide — to rebuild those relationships, to make locally again, and to prove that craftsmanship still has value.
The reality is, this work is hard. There’s no blueprint for how to do ethical fashion in a world that still rewards the opposite. Marketing constantly changes. Algorithms shift. One week you feel visible, the next you’re shouting into a void. There’s pressure to do more, sell more, react faster — and yet everything about our model is about slowing down, caring more, and making things to last.
But here’s the upside: we love being small.
We love being independent.
We don’t have outside investors, which means we’re free to do things on our own terms. We get to choose who we work with, how we make, what we say yes to — and what we say no to. That freedom is what allows us to stay true to our purpose, even when the world around us is shifting.
That’s why it meant something when Channel 4 invited us to speak about what these trade changes mean for brands like ours. Because small businesses aren’t just footnotes in the economy — they are the economy. We’re the ones trying to do things better, quietly, creatively, determinedly.
So if you’ve ever wondered how you can help shape a better future — start by supporting your favourite independents. Whether it’s a brand, a bookshop, or a bakery, your choices matter. Ask questions. Be curious. If a business shares your values, support them. And if they don’t, keep asking. That’s how change happens.
We don’t have all the answers. But we believe in what we’re building — and we’re proud to be doing it our way.
— Bryony Richardson, Founder of Palava
