My father told me a story about manufacturing this week. He said that the nuns from the local convent used to take cask-wine containers, cut them in half and cover them with wall paper to sell at the local market as document holders. The simple art of re-cycling driven not by fashion or morality but depression-era necessity. The Mother of invention. Sixty years later, recycling is so hot right now - and we are pleased to announce that Betty Jo Designs have been picked up by global uber-brand Paul Smith. So the lino ripped out of a floor in Thornbury to make way for more modern floor coverings will now be on sale as a designed item in Paris, London and New York. Ain’t the world a funny place? When old is new and new is old, it pays to know where you stand. (Maybe we’ll see you on the platform - thanks to Dad for the image).