Jeremy has always been involved in essential causes since his first steps as a student at York University where he was at the same time struggling with friends to defend homeless people in the city of York. The current Managing Director of Shared Earth then told how he started in 1986 after his hitch-hiking trip to India a few years before.
The first Shared Earth shop opened in York Goodramgate in 1986 before moving to a wonderful location at Minster Gates in 1993. After 5 years, Shared Earth had 4 shops. The company has experienced successes and failures along the road and today Shared Earth has 10 shops around the country and is the biggest non-food Fair Trade retailer in UK. The company can definitely be proud of being an important part of raising awareness about Fair Trade.

The environment remains an important issue for Jeremy who rapidly sold ranges of recycled greetings cards with original designs from Bali.

After that speech students asked Jeremy some questions he was keen to answer.

1- How do you ensure that the suppliers conform to the fundamentals and ethical aspects of Fair Trade?
JP: I have met a lot of suppliers through the WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization) meetings. To be members of the WFTO, the producers have to prove that they are dealing with the Fair Trade principles and regulations. WFTO often send representatives to visit the groups of suppliers to check on such things as the parity between men and women workers and that they are not exploiting children. As a result we can be sure that those suppliers respect the Fair Trade regulations. But we also work with groups of suppliers who are not in the WFTO (often really small groups of producers) and on that point it is a question of trust. For example, we are working with a group of producers called Aspiration International from India and that supplier has been recommended to us by Oxfam Australia which has been working with them for many years now.

2- How do you translate Fair Trade into profits?
JP: A Fair Trade shop is the same as an ordinary shop, the main difference is that we are paying our suppliers more. We are paying them the right price for their work. Fair Trade is about trying to pay fair prices to people to allow them to make a living, send children to school, have an access to health care… Our products are not especially more expensive than elsewhere (actually they are sometimes cheaper!). We do not make excessive margins on it, compared to certain conventional shops.

3- What do you think about the mainstream retailers moving to ethical products? Is it going to undermine the Fair Trade concept?
JP: I first think that this phenomenon is a danger because for most retailers it is only a marketing concept and a way of advertising. Otherwise, I think that the real change can’t be without mainstream retailers and wholesalers. I really believe in the new generations who are going to be more and more sensitive about that subject and who will one day be in charge of those stores.

Fair Trade is about money, and also about people, Fair Trade targets the weakest. Lots of Fair Trade organisations are non profit ones which help several groups of producers to export, provide them with trading knowledge, help them with the production and the designs… Jeremy Piercy told about the birth of his Fair Trade adventure, incredible people he has met along the way, things he has discovered and how he is committed to environmental and people issues in his interesting first book “Coffins, Cats & Fair Trade Sex Toys”.

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Our shop managers and staffs always have original and beautiful ideas to decorate their shop windows for Christmas and make you want to pop in and find some original ideas for your presents!

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Take a new look at Cardiff’s most fashionable shopping Arcades and come shopping on Thursday December 3rd from 5.30pm to 8pm. Come and visit us in our Cardiff Shared Earth shop to find some original  and unique gifts ideas!

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Last month the Fairtrade Foundation celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of the first Fairtrade products with a party hosted by Sarah Brown at 10 Downing Street. At the same time the government announced a huge investment of £12 million for Fairtrade. This will benefit in particular food producers, whose products are identified by the Fairtrade mark, and the aim is to double the number of producers and treble Fairtrade sales worldwide to $10 billion Euros by 2014.

A TNS research of 25,000 households showed that despite the tough economic climate, consumers are spending more on Fairtrade products than ever before. Sales rose by 43% last year and are expected to rise at least as much again in 2009.

“Fair Trade is booming,” said Jeremy Piercy of Shared Earth, the UK’s largest Fair Trade gift retailer. “It’s not just food – retailers selling Fair Trade gifts are doing well too. At Shared Earth we started the year worried about the recession, but in the last two months we have opened two new shops in Brighton and Canterbury, and both are doing well. Fair trade is becoming part of the mainstream and retailers who don’t take notice will be missing out.”

In addition to its ten shops, Shared Earth wholesales Fair Trade products from 15 countries. It is particularly concerned about how climate change will increase world poverty, and specialises in developing products made from sustainable materials.

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Insight Magazine, issue 63, November 2009

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When it comes to Christmas shopping - how many of us truly consider how the gift actually got to the shop? Where it came from and how it was sourced has risen in our awareness over the last decade, but what with the recent recession has Fair Trade been pushed to the back of our minds?

Recent figures documented by the Guardian suggest not and appear to ‘contradict previous surveys which have indicated that Brtitish consumers are turning their backs on organic, fair trade and eco-friendly goods in favour of cheaper shopping bills’. This is refreshing news and would suggest that many shoppers are seeking higher quality Fair Trade goods over cheaper, throwaway items. It hasn’t been easy though, when the recession initially hit many retailers suffered and the Fair Trade market was no exception.

However, Shared Earth are a prime example of a Fair Trade company that is recession proof, having been established since 1986 and still growing with 2009 seeing two more shops opening, proving that if the goods are a high quality and varied, consumers will still spend on good, built to last, from an ethical backgroumd. So, as you do your Christmas shopping this year, condiser the origin of the product you re buying to ensure your Christmas is an ethical one.  

Buy ethically this Christmas with Shared Earth

When it comes to finding a gift, Insight understands that it’s not easy at the best of times to be trawling round shop after shop to find the ideal gift, let alone on that is produced in an ethical way. However, since discovering Shared Earth we feel we have found the solution to your whole Christmas shopping list - with them no one can argue that this hasn’t been achieved!

Today, there are ten highly successful shops and counting across the country, specialising in gifts for any occasion and taste with handmade cards from the Philippines, silver jewellery from Indonesia and hand-carved wooden boxes from India to name but a few. Importing unique jewellery, fashion accessories, homewares, stationery and children’s ranges, Shared Earth is the largest retailer and wholsaler of Fair Trade gifts in the UK.

Helpful gift ideas are individual and unique and really show thought and consideration unlike anything else they will get from another. From beautifully hand crafted embroidered frames for Mum to VW beetle cars models for Dad, and a whole host of gifts for children and friends. By buying from Shared Earth you can not only give lovely gifts, but also help to encourage economic progress and support sustainable industries.

With a strong focus on environmental issues the shop is also a fantastic arena for publicising them: “Addressing environmental issues is high on the agenda and the shop provides a perfect way of producing recycled goods and publicising them, and of course, we always aim to achieve the fairest working relationship with artisans from all over the world; from the start this as well as providing quality gifts has been a sole priority for us”. Jeremy told us.

So with shops in York, Birmingham, Leeds, Brighton, Manchester, Stratford-up-Avon, Liverpool, Cardiff, Bristol and Canterbury, plus the opportunity to shop online -What are you waiting for? Visit www.sharedearth.co.uk to shop online and find out more.

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Coventry city vision, October 2009

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A city shop owner who sells recycled, fair trade products from across the globe is calling on shoppers to find out more after it was recently refurbished.  Pushy Sanghera, who owns Craft Culture in association with Shared Earth in Sherbourne Arcade, can tell a story about every item in the shop because they are all sourced from individual and community traders from as far away as Indonesia, Madagascar and Bengladesh. “Coventry needs a fair trade shop and I’m passionate about this project”, said Pushy. “I was born in Nairobi in Kenya and I remember seeing the local traders at work. We have a range of goods and they are made by amazing craftpeople that use recycled material and a lot of artistry. “We have dragon sculptures made from recycled sawdust, bags made from anything from disused cement packaging to old newspapers. We even have coasters made from 75 per cent elephant dung.”. Among the most popular have been the Buddahs that are sold at the shop with satisfied customers testifying to the benefits the wooden sculptures have brought. The shop is located next to the Coventry Indoor Market.

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Gifts Today – October

Climate change – so what? I’m trying to run a business, not change the world.

It’s a good question, and in case you think I’m one of these people who campaigns and goes on demonstrations all the time, I’m not! With two new shops, and all the ordering for Christmas, I’m pretty busy. Sometimes people who don’t understand business seem to think you have endless time to discuss their pet concerns.

So does climate change matter? And how should we respond as businesses?

I believe climate change is the key issue of this century. The whole of our society is going to change, and if we respond now, we can avoid the doom-and-gloom scenarios which some scientists predict. Are we thinking of our businesses in terms of short term profit, or of long-term, sustainable sources of income?

It all comes down to reducing our carbon emissions and transforming our economy to low carbon energy production and infrastructure. The latter will require investment – but on the former, we all have a part to play, both in our own lives and at work. Often people feel powerless in the face of such an enormous global problem, but we CAN make a difference. I am a great fan of the new 10:10 campaign (www.1010uk.org), which aims to get all of us to reduce our carbon emissions by 10% in the year 2010. Launched in September, 1,000 businesses, 20,000 individuals and a variety of celebrities have already signed up, as has the whole of the Cabinet, Shadow Cabinet and other political leaders. The basis of the campaign is that we should not just leave it to politicians and that we CAN effect change ourselves.

I was fortunate and caught on to a trend in the early days. Fair trade has grown from a niche market, selling coffee which “only vicars would be mad enough to buy”, to a multi-million business. My own small shop in a side street in York has grown to a chain of ten shops around the country. And the next major trend? Protecting our environment doesn’t just apply to the “beard and sandals brigade” – it’s becoming a major trend that will affect us all.

Many successful businesses have started up recently either wholesaling or retailing “eco” products. Many others are improving their sales with “eco” ranges. I believe the transfer to a low carbon economy will start a revolution akin to the growth of information technology in the last 30 years. In Gordon Brown’s words, “the economies that embrace the green revolution earliest will reap the greatest rewards.”

This is also an issue about what customers will want, long-term. As a retailer, are you reacting to trends? I’ve seen countless retailers fail because they keep selling the same old things. Others succeed because they constantly try out new ranges, even completely different types of product. Garden centres and local farm shops are good examples.

Acting to reduce climate change through your business is a win-win policy! By reducing energy consumption, you will save costs. You could well get publicity in your local paper, or be interviewed on tv or radio. Your customers will respond positively because they will see you acting responsibly; you’re not just out to make money. Your staff will be positive too, and show greater commitment to you; their enthusiasm and therefore their customer care could improve immensely. Sign up to the 10:10 campaign and ask them if they’d like to sign up too! At shared Earth we’ve had an amazing response (and most of our staff are not enthusiasts like me). People come in early and leave late because they see what they’re doing as worthwhile.

It may not be conventional business thinking, but I believe acting responsibly will also make you a happier person. In turn this will give you more energy. As we all know, this is very important when you work in retail!

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