Christmas shopping has its challenges at the best of times. Oxford Street crowds and high street tat; Black Friday generating more excitement than a White Christmas. And this year will, for many, be more challenging than ever. Who needs the Grinch when the cost-of-living monster threatens to steal Christmas?
When looking to keep down the cost of presents, gravitating towards well-known British heritage brands might seem counterintuitive. The ‘big box’ instinct sometimes kicks in: the bigger the package the more expensive it’ll look under the tree, we reason. And many of us are guilty of buying presents that are more gimmicky and flashy than genuinely likely to get good use. Much better I think to adopt a less is more approach: smaller things from prestigious brands whose quality speaks for itself. And given the economic travails, if we can support home-grown businesses in the process then all the better. So, don’t despair: here are 12 suggested gifts from great British brands, all under £20.
Houses of Parliament doormat, £20
The parliamentary gift shop has lots of nice stock, much of it fairly priced. You could go for some ‘Honourable Gentleman’ socks for £8 (I’ve never understand the opposition to socks as Christmas presents; very considerate I think). If the £20 budget doesn’t concern you, you could even plump for some of Speaker Hoyle’s Single Malt Scotch for £45 (tradition dictates that each Speaker gets a whisky bearing their name). But for something both fun and long-lasting, consider this doormat branded with the words shouted each morning by the duty police inspector during the Speaker’s ceremonial procession into the Chamber: ‘Hats off, strangers.’
Liberty playing cards, £15.99 (for a pack of two decks)
UNO and Top Trumps are all well and good, but nothing beats a pack of traditional playing cards for limitless hours of entertainment. They are also marginally less likely than Monopoly to lead to irreparable familial bust-ups. Liberty’s prints are known the world over but getting them on a silk scarf will bust the bank. So these playing cards are a more affordable way to admire their patterns: the Maxine design on them dates from the 1910s and is a cartographic depiction of forests, seas and coastlines.
Gibsons ‘Brands That Built Britain’ puzzle, £14.40
A nostalgic choice, but in recent years puzzles have had something of a renaissance and this 1,000-piece jigsaw is an essential education for any youngster, or a trip down memory lane for a pensioner. It features vintage brand packaging for everything from Macleans toothpaste to Bird’s blancmange. And it is sold by Hamleys so you get to take it away in one of their carrier bags for extra Christmas style.
Decommissioned ‘Keep locked’ sign from Transport for London, £20
One for the trainspotter in the family, there is a whole host of original railwayana for sale by TfL, from a metal cash drawer for £300 (they’ve got to plug the gaping hole in the finances somehow) to the Moquette fabric used on Tube seats (£10 per metre) so you can recreate the comforts of the Central Line in your living room. But consider going for this vitreous enamel used sign in blue and white. Perfect for affixing to the bedroom doors of any truculent teenage children.
Royal Stafford cereal bowl, £10.99
Nothing beats Stoke-on-Trent chinaware, and the Christmas collection from Royal Stafford features wonderfully homely festive scenes available on dinner plates or bowls. This cereal bowl is as suited to Christmas pudding and lashings of brandy butter on the day itself as it is to cornflakes during the rest of the year.
Custom-made and personalised Ordnance Survey map, £18.99
A map? As in, Google Maps? No, a proper physical Ordnance Survey map. Now sometimes appearing close to extinction, there is nothing quite like a hard-copy guide for country excursions. Ordnance Survey do a nice custom-made service where you can specify your exact area and provide a personalised cover and photo. Especially apt for someone who’s recently moved home or just needs encouraging to get outdoors – with the mobile phone left at home.
Fortnum and Mason Seville orange and cider marmalade, £6.95
Marmalade has been in the limelight this year thanks to its starring role in the Paddington skit with the late Queen. There is nowhere more fitting to pick up a jar than royal warrant-holder Fortnum and Mason. And while a grocery shop here is never exactly cheap, their beautifully-presented selection of jams and preserves are some of their most economical purchases. A jar of marmalade may seem a little measly for a Christmas present, but this number created by Mike Ranson was the winner of the annual Dalemain marmalade competition, and is enlivened with both cider and Calvados. What’s more, coming in at just £6.95 you can add in a jar of their classic strawberry preserve (£4.95) and lemon curd (£4.95), guaranteeing months of breakfast joy in the new year and still coming in under budget. If nothing else, the recipient can turn up at their New Year’s Eve party with a marmalade sandwich in their handbag to keep them fuelled while dancing into the early hours.
House of Bruar pure wool hot water bottle cover, £19.95
With energy bills sky-high, the hot water bottle comes into its own. Especially if you think ahead and fill it with the leftover kettle water from your evening camomile. There’s nothing wrong with a bog-standard version for a fiver but this hot water bottle cover from the Scottish country clothing specialists made from soft wool is both hard-wearing and very snug, which is important if you’re hugging it all night through the winter months.
White Heron British cassis, £20
It’s hard to go wrong with booze under the tree. But while a nice bottle of Scotch or English sparkling wine is always a good choice, this British cassis is a particularly thoughtful selection. Made with blackcurrants grown in Herefordshire, it is rich and full-bodied with a fruity but tart flavour. It is thinner and less sweet than traditional French crème de cassis, making it more suited to drinking neat as an apéritif. You can also combine it with an English sparkling wine for a homegrown Kir Royale. And don’t forget that a thimble does a good job of dressing up an average red wine, too (one or two parts to ten parts wine), as in the French drink a ‘Cardinal’ (when paired with a Burgundian wine) or a ‘Communard’ (when Beaujolais wine).
The Kew bee-friendly box, £18
The buzz around bees is so great there’s even an international day of celebration in their honour (20 May – mark your diaries). You can take to the streets to protest against pesticide use, or you can do your bit in a rather more genteel British way and tend to your garden. This pack from Kew contains six heritage varieties of seed – Teasel, Wild Bergamot, Borage, Pot Marigold, Cowslip and Larkspur – designed to attract bees to your garden.
Badger & Birch shell soap dish, £12
Don’t be shy about getting something functional as a gift, especially if it’s a beautiful item made in Cornwall. Badger & Birch do lots of nice things with eco-resin, from little trays to candle holders, but this soap dish lined with miniature shells around the rim feels particularly evocative of Falmouth where it is made, and is sure to evoke happy memories of seaside summer holidays. You could pair it with a lovely soap – or even a set of three – from the Dartmoor Soap Company and still come in under budget.
The Platinum Jubilee Cookbook, £18
Last but not least, a shameless plug. The official Platinum Jubilee Cookbook, authored by yours truly, has 70 recipes from British diplomatic missions around the world, alongside profiles celebrating traditional British ingredients and tales of diplomatic dining unearthed from the Foreign Office archives. With many of the dishes served to members of the royal family on overseas visits over the years, and with a joint foreword from the now King Charles and Queen Camilla, it is I hope a fitting tribute to the memory of Queen Elizabeth II. Spectator readers can use the discount code FCDOUK40 on the Bloomsbury website (applied at checkout) to get 40 per cent off the RRP, making it yours for £18 including postage. All royalties are being donated to two royal charities: the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust and The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund.
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