SHARED EARTH is moving to new premises in Leeds.

The address is 40 Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 8LX. It is located in between the newly opened Wilkinsons and Costa Coffee, and opposite Yates pub.

We’re hoping to open at the end of July, but as you’ll see from the photos, there’s a lot to be done!!!

Bookmark this page to follow the progress from now until the opening of the shop.

Further details of shop opening date to follow.

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At 9am on the 16th June the Shared Earth retail store in New Street, Birmingham will be visited by two very special teenagers who have flown all the way from Kuapa Kokoo cocoa farmers’ co-operative in Ghana to see their family’s products on sale in the UK.

Stephen Amankwah and Joycelin Segbedzi, both 14, will be visiting Shared Earth, and will be welcomed by Area Manager Lynne Dawson who has organised Fair Trade treat bags for them.

Accompanied by two giant Dubble Fairtrade chocolate bars, the two 14 year olds will make quite an entrance as they learn how their chocolate is loved by so many throughout the UK and work to extend their plea for more shopkeepers to stock Fair Trade goods through their campaign called Mission:Possible.

Shared Earth Birmingham, as well as Shared Earth’s six other stores across the country stock Dubble bars as well as the full range of Divine chocolate, Dubble’s parent company.

Sara Barron, Dubble HQ Producer comments about the visit “MISSION:POSSIBLE has had a fantastic initial response from our signed up Dubble Agents who are always asking us for new challenges and ways of spreading the Fair Trade message. We’re really delighted that Shared Earth is helping us promote the launch of the MISSION:POSSIBLE campaign in Birmingham. The success of Shared Earth is a testament to how popular Fair Trade and ethically sourced products are in the area. Shared Earth stores stock the full range of Divine and Dubble products and we’re hoping that other shops in Birmingham will follow their example and give Fair Trade goods a go!”

The Shared Earth store in Birmingham is the largest Fair Trade store in the UK with over 5,000 different products. It opened in 1992 and despite the current economic downturn, sales are 7% up on last year showing that people increasingly care about the products they buy. With 10 staff the store is open 7 days a week and many products can be found and bought online at www.sharedearth.co.uk.

Shared Earth was founded in 1986 and now sources its products from 15 countries through 37 producers. It aims to double the sales of non-food Fair Trade products in the UK through its plans to grow through franchising, which is the first Fair Trade franchise to be available in the UK.

Divine and Shared Earth are both members of IFAT (the world’s global Fair Trade Association) which sets the 10 standards of Fair Trade world-wide. Jeremy Piercy, founder of Shared Earth is delighted with the visit to promote Fair Trade, “It is great to have the link across the two sectors of handicrafts and Fair Trade food. Producers throughout the world make beautiful Fair Trade crafts as well as the food you see in the supermarkets. This campaign carries the vital message that all trade should ultimately be fair.”

Lynne concludes, “This is an exciting chance for these children to experience first hand their products being displayed and sold in the UK and really feel that they can make a difference to promote Fair Trade.”

Shared Earth’s Birmingham Shop front.

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Shared Earth was delighted to discover that they have been short listed for the Best Multiple Retailer Award 2008 by the prestigious Greats Awards which are to be held in London on 22nd May.

The Greats Awards set out to recognise not only the top independent and multiple gift retailers regionally and nationally but highlight many of the finest retailers in the UK.

“I am extremely pleased to be nominated as one of the 5 finalists for the Best Multiple Retailer Gifts category. I see this as recognition not just for Shared Earth, but for our staff and producers in over 30 countries. We strive endlessly to improve the lives of so many people and establish community programs world-wide. It is good to know that our efforts are also rewarded and recognised in this professional way,” comments Jeremy Piercy, founder of Shared Earth.

Shared Earth also campaigns heavily for the reduced use of plastic bags and currently offer a selection of reusable jute bags in a variety of colours with different slogans including ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’, ‘Use me till me bottom wears out’ and  ‘Say No to Plastic Bags’. They also backed the Daily Mail’s Banish the Bag campaign recently.

“We have always aimed to address the imbalance of wealth, working together with people from different cultures,” explains Jeremy who founded Shared Earth 1986 to increase the sales of fairly traded goods.

As well as being the UK’s largest independent retailer of non-food Fair Trade products, Shared Earth offer the best selection of recycled products, including bags made from crisp packets in bangladesh, toy cars made from tin cans in Madagascar, office stationery from computer boards in the UK, wall hangings from old saris in India and jewellery from recycled glass in Chile.

Late last year, Shared Earth also launched the first Fair Trade franchise in the UK which is capable of doubling the sales of independent non-food Fair Trade products sold nationally. This is an exciting development which has opened up the industry with a wealth of new opportunities for many individuals who wish to work for themselves in a fairly traded retail environment.

Visit www.sharedearth.co.uk for more information or go to http://www.max-publishing.co.uk/awards-home-page.html to find out more about the awards categories and entries.

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Read our latest newsletter - May 2008: “Meet one of our suppliers - Mitra Bali”

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Shared Earth fans were delighted to see a Shared Earth jute bag being used on the Gavin and Stacey show on Sunday 6th April.

It was used in a scene with the actor Alison Steadman, who plays Pam; Gavin’s neurotic Essex mum, as she entered her house with her shopping stacked into one of Shared Earth’s reusable jute bags.

“We’re delighted to see the bags being used, especially on the TV,” comments Jeremy Piercy, founder of Shared Earth.

(more…)

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Shared Earth has donated £10,000 for the creation of the first sustainable community centre in India. Jeremy Piercy handed over the cheque to the John Lally International Foundation outside Shared Earth’s head office in York, which is to fund a new community centre in Goa.

John Lally was a good friend of Jeremy some years ago and he was also extremely active in the environmental movement before he died in his late 20’s. He persuaded the council to give over a disused landfill site as a conservation area, and helped to raise several hundred thousand pounds to set up the UK’s first eco community centre on the site. This now forms the template for the Goa project.

The new Goa centre in Moira, will be promoting environmental education, sustainability, community enterprise, recycling and agriculture for all the community and also includes a kindergarten. Using an old Portuguese-style house renovated to 21^st century standards, the Centre will be carbon neutral forming a community base for environmental enterprises in agriculture, recycling, garbage collection and other small scale non-polluting industries.

School parties from all over Goa will use the Centre to study the environmental syllabus, not in a dry academic way but in an interactive, stimulating and exciting way. “Hands On” is the ethos of the education at the Centre where children will learn about the eco-system and their role in it. Most children, if not all, have the capacity of wonder and by stimulating that innate sense, we help develop the imagination of future generations.

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As well as being the UK’s largest independent retailer of non-food Fair Trade products, Shared Earth offer the best selection of recycled products, including bags made from crisp packets in Bangladesh, toy cars made from tin cans in Madagascar, office stationery from computer boards in the UK, wall hangings from old saris in India and jewellery from recycled glass in Chile. Shared Earth actively campaign against the use of plastic bags with their jute bags made in India which boast a selection of logos such as ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’, ‘Use me till me bottom wears out’ and  ‘Say No to Plastic Bags’. They also backed the Daily Mail’s Banish the Bag campaign.

Shared Earth’s seven shops operate successfully because of their Fair Trade and environmental stance. Three of their shops have opened within the last 3 years with sales and profit substantially increasing. Managing Director Jeremy Piercy has worked hard for over two decades to offer a unique selection of products through Shared Earth branded shops which individually generate in excess of £300,000 per annum.

“Fair Trade is making such a difference,” explains Jeremy. “Critics are quick to question whether the Fairtrade logo is just another way of businesses to profit. We are ensuring that the profits of our fairly traded goods directly benefit those communities that require assistance and this Goa project is a classic example.”

Other planned projects include a carbon offsetting scheme funding a tree-planting operation near Saharanpur in India.

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Fair Trade Fortnight ran from 25th February - 9th March 2008.

This is the 3rd year that Shared Earth has taken part in the York Fair Trade Market and it just keeps getting better and better.

All the York shop staff take part and are on hand to talk to customers about our products and Fair Trade too. This year, the Lord Mayor of York and Civic party visited our stall to meet Jeremy Piercy, founder and MD of Shared Earth.

Fair Trade Fortnight is always busy for us both instore and at the various stalls we do, all the extra publicity it generates is always good for us. We do however celebrate Fair Trade all day every day, 365 days a year!

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Our Birmingham shop has recently reopened following a refit. Click here for more information about our shops.

As part of the recent re-branding exercise, Shared Earth’s Birmingham shop was given a new look with a complete refit inside and out using materials from Fair Trade producers.

It took just two weeks to refit the shop with the grand re-opening on Saturday 9^th February. Shared Earth Birmingham shop manager Jemima is delighted with the changes. “It looks really good and everyone is remarking about it. It was a bit of a rush to get all the shelving units back on the walls but we managed to get it all done on time.”

The team are planning to bring further producer images to introduce more colour into the shop over the next few weeks. Regular customers to the Shared Earth shop have been impressed at the changes so far with comments such as “… it looks so much lighter in here.”

Shared Earth founder Jeremy Piercy was adamant from the beginning of the project that Fair Trade needed to be at the very heart of the refit. “It is wonderful that we’re not just selling Fair Trade products but we were able to involve our suppliers in the refit as well. Fair Trade producer Mitra Bali from Indonesia supplied us with some of the shop fittings and signage which look fantastic,” explains Jeremy. As well as Mitra Bali, Shared Earth producer Asha was also involved and made some special Fair Trade picture frames for behind the till points.

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Shared Earth’s recent trip to India was a huge success with news stories being printed all over the UK in magazines and newspapers.

Jeremy Piercy, founder of Shared Earth organised the India trip, “During our visit we reviewed a selection of Fair Trade projects set up by Indian suppliers, which are designed to give back to the community. We visited a slum school, orphanage, workshops and schools all of which have been set up or funded through Fair Trade. It was a pleasure to view the progress and positive impact for workers, families and communities. With an increase in sales of 8% within our shops, we are hopeful of a positive take up for our Shared Earth franchise package which is the first of its kind within the UK. This project will undoubtedly give even more work to world-wide handicraft suppliers, giving this industry a real boost.”

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