Dear friends of Handmade Brighton

Some of you may have noticed that the Handmade shop is under a dark shadow, a shadow cast by a large ‘For Let’ sign. The more astute among you may see cause for alarm. And yes, Handmade is indeed in danger. Although the spirit of the venture will live on, at least in online form, the physical shop is soon to be without a venue.

Can you help save Handmade Brighton?

We are calling out to the four corners of Brighton & Hove for any alternative venue. Spread the word! If you have any lead, no matter how vague, please email Handmade.co@hotmail.com and we will be forever in your debt. (There will be cake.)

Handmade is unique in Brighton as the only not for profit platform for Brighton designer makers. No other gallery is quite so stubbornly idealistic, dedicated to stimulating the local art and craft scene rather than making a profit.

So please put your thinking caps on. Let’s save Brighton Handmade!

Many Thanks x

The Handmade story

Just over two years ago I was running Handmade Brighton craft fairs and I was very lucky to be contacted by the lovely Lynne.

Two coffees later we decided to move the concept of the fairs into her empty shop premises.

Today I have a much cherished friendship with Lynne and a thriving business that currently houses work from over 60 local designers.

We run the shop as a non-profit business and all of us involved work wage free including Lynne and myself.

We rent out sections of the shop to local artists, this covers the rent for the premises. We also take a few pieces on a commission basis at a rate of 25% which also goes towards the bills and rent.

The average commission rate of most shops ranges from 50 to 100%

I don't think we're blowing our trumpet too hard in saying we're pretty special in that way and we're definitely the only shop like this to exist in Brighton.

Unfortunately due to personal reasons Lynne has had to put the lease up for sale which we totally support but sadly this means that Handmade will soon be homeless.

We were looking at an amazing premises in york place but the business rates were out of our means. we had hoped we would get reduced rates due to the non-profit nature of the business but the council did not see it that way.

We still feel passionately about handmade and want to continue if we can!

Thanks for reading

Kirstin x