As you can imagine, increasing biodiversity means doing lots of different things. Don't worry, a much bigger post is yet to come, but today we are going to focus on water, and newts! We are celebrating our first real biodiversity victory at New Barns Farm.

Water brings life... and our farm held no water. The first thing we did here, precisely 1 day after our planning permission came through, was to dig a series of ponds. We have 7 in total, two of which are quite large and hold well over 300,000L of water between them. These are live, soil lined ponds, planted to create complex ecosystems... In the first year they were a little barren but now they are absolutely teeming with life.

At just before 9pm, on Friday, April 26th (yes, Friday nights are a whole different kind of fun on the farm) our first newt survey began. With the expert guidance of John, a Masters Student from the University of Kent, we spotted 2 in our top pond and 10 in the bottom pond (all Smooth Newts). This was on an unseasonably cold night, when they are relatively inactive, so we expect to find more as it warms up. Also, John told us that the rule of thumb is that for every newt you see there are 10 that you don't. Can you spot the newt in the first image? We have zoomed in and circled it in the second one, to help you out!

Newts and other predators like dragonfly larvae are a sign of healthy ecosystems... it was great to have John's confirmation that our ponds are doing very well indeed! During the count we saw common frogs, toad spawn, pipistrelle bats, at least 10 kinds of beetle, nesting Moorhens, and two large hedgehogs.

Here is a maths challenge for you, when you go from 0 newts to 12+ newts, what is the percentage increase in newts? 

Water brings life.

We love a special request, particularly when it so specifically speaks to our skills! Several months ago London's Air Ambulance Charity got in touch with us about a few fire-hoses that required decommissioning. We are always delighted to keep hoses out of landfill but there was an added bonus with this project. We were tasked with transforming these hoses into pieces for the Charity, so that they could auction them to raise additional funds, keep the helicopters flying and continue to save lives!

We made a selection of pieces from Weekend Bags to cufflinks and candle holders. 

We sent them over and then held our breath... would London's Air Ambulance Charity love them as much as we did? And then came the feedback...

"We’re hugely grateful to Elvis & Kresse for putting together these amazing bespoke bags made from our old fire hoses to celebrate their anniversaries.

Elvis & Kresse make beautifully designed accessories and homeware from 15 different reclaimed materials that are contained within decommissioned fire hoses.

Speaking about Elvis & Kresse, our CEO Jonathan Jenkins said: "Our advanced trauma team attended over 2000 missions in 2023, so as you can imagine a lot of our kit gets worn out very quickly. To see our old fire hoses repurposed like this is amazing to see – and I can’t think of a more fitting gift for our longest-serving member of staff, Chief Fire Officer John Power.

"I’ve been a long term admirer of the work of Elvis & Kresse, and was delighted to be able to do this with them. I'd like to thank them for their incredible work.”

Introducing our Scottish Stockist! Try saying that 3 times quickly!

We have been having an ongoing conversation with Clare Campbell for many years now. Clare is the founder of Prickly Thistle, an incredible business which is bringing back centuries old weaving techniques and equipment to breathe new life into the tartan landscape. Her mission, her team and their products are all just amazing. 

Their Flagship, Rebel Row, is now stocking a selection of our pieces so if you find yourself in Inverness and are keen to discover innovative sustainable design then head on over!

Rebel Row, 17 Union Street, Inverness, Highlands, IV1 1PL

EXTENDED HOURS COMING SOON FOR SUMMER!

Mon - 12noon-4pm

Tues - Closed

Wed - 11am-6pm

Thurs - 11am-7pm

Fri - 10am-6pm

Sat - 10am-6pm

Sun - 10am-2pm

On April 10th we had a lovely visit of all the Kent Mayors, coordinated by our local Mayor Sarah Stephen. 

Of course Monty took Centre Stage

The event, which consisted of a full tour of our workshop and farm, helped to raise funds for Mayor Sarah's three chosen charities. We had a lovely afternoon, answering all manor of questions, sharing the Elvis & Kresse story, finding the perfect bag or belt for those who could not resist and of course there was time for tea and biscuits! 

It is always a joy to welcome people to the farm, particularly a group so committed to the wider Kent community. 

Did you know that Mayor's have a whole host of roles and duties including promoting public involvement in council activities, highlighting the work of local charities, presiding over council meetings and officially opening anything from schools to fetes!

We know what we do is unique, we know it is important. And we don't just know this intrinsically, we know it because we get emails like this all the time.

Our best story tellers are often those impacted by what we do, and the causes we support. 

This lovely message arrived yesterday and we immediately asked Laura if we could share it - today we got a delightful reply, a wholehearted YES! 

One of the reasons we are so happy at our new HQ, New Barns Farm, is that we work in an efficient, warm, near passive building. 

Essentially we use less energy here, because the building is very well insulated. We have dramatically reduced our need for heat because the straw bale walls, insulated roof and floor are all doing their job. Our heat pump and MVHR (mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system) provide our warmth and cooling without fossil fuels. We have the most energy efficient lighting possible, again, reducing our energy demand. 

But the best news? Our Solar Panels are really working. Here is the latest report from Justin Ford, who installed them back in October 2022 (with batteries following as they were available, in May 2023).

I have conducted a brief review of the performance of your PV system over the first 280 days since we started monitoring its performance in late April 2023. Total generation reported by the Solis monitoring portal is 11,575 kWh. This compares to an estimated annual output in our original proposal of 10,671 kWh. With only three quarters of the year gone the array output is already 8.5% above prediction, which is pleasing.

Since the SMA Sunny portal started collecting data on 4^th May 2023, 191 kWh has been imported from grid, mainly between Oct and Jan, whilst 177 kWh has been exported to grid, between May and Sept. Over the same period 1439 kWh were charged into the battery at an average of 5.3 kWh daily, which is relatively high utilisation for a 7.68 kWh battery capacity.

Overall, based on this evidence the PV array and the ESS seem to be relatively well matched to the consumption in the new building with only small surpluses exported to and imported from the grid. Also there is little overlap between periods of importing and exporting, which indicates that the impact of additional battery capacity would be minimal.

So we are pretty self-sufficient, great. But why don't we, with our large roof, go for more panels and more batteries? 

We import from the grid at 27.98p/kWh but when we export we are only paid 4.10p/kWh. Now I realise that we don't have the cost of operating the grid, but we pay a standing charge, a daily charge for that... Why such a large discrepancy!

Also, we have 3 supplies into the farm, and neighbours. Why couldn't we supply ourselves for say, 20p/kWh, or our neighbours? 

We have been told by UK Power Networks that we can't. 

I am thrilled that some community energy pioneers are finding ways around this, as we feel a distributed system, with local generation can help with the renewable transition and with energy independence. 

Right now we are just proud of our HQ. Find out all about the build on another post.

Here is the Direct Comparison with our previous site, Tonge Mill:

In our last year at Tonge Mil we used 7767 kWh of energy. In our new building at New Barns Farm, which is three times the size, we used 6107 kWh in our first year. But! We also generated 4502 kWh, meaning that we cut our total electricity consumption from 7767 kWh to 1599 kWh… or by 79%. And do you know what else? Because the old site was on gas and the new site is on a heat pump we eliminated fossil fuels, and the kWh we were spending on gas now sits on our normal bill. In our last year at Tonge Mill we used 22360 kWh of gas…. 

That last year at Tonge Mill we used 7767 kWh in electricity plus 22360 kWh in gas, or 30127 kWh in total energy.

Now we are down to 1599 total… or a reduction of 94.7% in kWh demand. And we did this while trebling the size of the workshop!

Last week Elvis & I sat down (remotely unfortunately!) with the indomitable Holly Tucker, founder of Holly & Co.

We have known Holly for what seems like forever... Elvis & Kresse was one of the first small brands to go live on her first big venture, Not On The High Street and we are now very excited to be joining Holly & Co, a wonderful marketplace celebrating the most creative small businesses in the UK.

Holly has a regular podcast where she interviews founders and innovators, her research is absolutely first rate and what can I say, so far she is the only person who has been able to get Elvis to put on the headphones and record.

It was a great chat, we hope you enjoy it. It is definitely worth waiting until the end where we read letters written to our younger selves and Elvis manages to remind me once again just how very lucky I am. 

Q&A

1. What topics did Holly Tucker and the founders discuss during their conversation? They discussed a range of topics including entrepreneurship, small business challenges, marketplaces, innovation, creative industries, and the importance of community support.
2. How does Holly & Co differentiate itself from other marketplaces celebrating small businesses? Holly & Co stands out from other marketplaces by its focus on celebrating creative small businesses in the UK, its curated selection of unique products, its commitment to supporting independent makers, and its vibrant community engagement initiatives.
3. What insights or advice did the founders share in the letters they read to their younger selves? Elvis & Kresse shared valuable insights and advice to their younger selves, touching on topics such as resilience, perseverance, learning from failures, seizing opportunities, and the importance of staying true to one's values and passion.

I will never quite forget the first time we were told, by an august incumbent luxury brand that we were 'not a Maison', we were 'not a House'. It was meant to put us in our place, we were too small, we were not really luxury, etcetera etcetera.

We could have a lot of discussions about what a House might be, and who gets to define it... but why? We have always followed what we know to be good and true and radically on the side of a shared healthy future for the planet and its people. 

Which means no, we are not a Maison. We are a Farm.

We are a FARM. 

What does this MEAN?

We put the earth first, we put soil first, we put future generations first. This is how we make our decisions, this is how we design, this is how we manufacture and communicate and live.

What does this LOOK LIKE?

• We don't have a supply chain, we have a symbiotic ecosystem of partners, some provide us with their waste (like the London Fire Brigade), others receive our donations (like The Fire Fighters Charity).
• We manufacture our own products across two sites where everyone is paid a Living Wage. We don't subcontract to a factory where we have no idea or control over how people are treated or compensated.
• We bought a farm and relocated here to restore a degraded ecosystem and put everything that we do at E&K quite literally at the heart of a farm.
• Our HQ is a straw bale building with a glulam timber frame, these materials have locked in local carbon and ensure that we are extremely efficient.
• We have a solar panel system with batteries and an MVHR, and in just our first year with this system we are almost entirely self-sufficient.
• We use heat pumps, and not fossil fuels for heat
• We planted a vineyard and more than 3000 trees in our first year here and have never ploughed or used pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or synthetic fertilizers - we are operating by entirely regenerative principals. We aren't 'part' regenerative or regenerative when it is convenient. We will be storing carbon in our own soil and trees... we aren't offsetting.
• We constructed a wetland system to gather and store rainwater and also to treat our own waste and waste water, turning something our water companies think is a problem into a source of nutrients for carefully selected flowers, reeds and trees.
• Our humanure? That is separated out and in partnership with worms and time becomes vermicast - a natural fertilizer, the original black gold.
• We build our own compost from local wastes like food waste, ruminant manure and wood chip. In the same way that Elvis & Kresse is working on the circular flow of materials and capital, the farm works by cycling nutrients back into the soil with compost and compost tea (also brewed on-site).
• Our whole aim for the farm is to build soil health. Healthy soils produce nutrient dense foods, retain more water (drought resistance), and sequester more carbon.

Want to learn MORE?

• Come and see us - we offer all kinds of workshops and experiences.

And just to be clear - our farm is also our home. We live here, our Vineyard manager and his family live here, and we have a cottage so that you can come and stay here.... why be a House when you can be a Home, a Farm, an ecosystem that is being restored to abundant biodiversity. It is time to think beyond outdated definitions, which are restrictive and reductive. If we want to do more, and be better, we have to think bigger.

Thank You!

Another wonderful year to be grateful for... We appreciate your support and can't wait to start again in 2024, refreshed and ready to rescue more wonderful materials.

Merry Christmas from the whole Elvis & Kresse team!

Last orders for Christmas? If you are in the UK we can still take orders until 11am on Friday the 22nd, you will have to choose Special Delivery and be in until 1pm on the 23rd, ready to accept your parcel?

Missed the Deadline? We highly recommend our Gift Cards, or our Workshops. These can be gifted virtually, via email, so no deadlines!

Workshop Closing: The workshop will be closed from noon on December 22nd until the 2nd of January. All orders placed during this time will be shipped on the 2nd.

There are a lot of quotes about giving... 

'It is better to give than to receive' springs to mind, and this one is definitely true but perhaps our favourite is from John Bunyan:

This one is special to us - over the years we have had many people question our donations, most prominently the Financial Times, who thought it was imprudent to donate 50%. How could a business make this kind of commitment and thrive? What about the shareholders? What about growth?

Well, here we are, almost 19 years later and it seems that we were right. What is really ludicrous is the idea that a solely profit motivated business is in any way laudable or aspirational. 

Giving isn't madness... it is at the heart of our success. It fills our rescued pieces with a deeper meaning, it makes them the gifts that keep on giving. 

Anyway... musings about the failure of capitalism aside, today is the day we make our annual donation to the Fire Fighters Charity. We have donated £44,698.33 this year to the FFC and that brings our total donations to date to £428,908.93. We have a wonderful long-term partnership with the FFC, and couldn't be more proud of how closely we work, and how much fun we have had rescuing and transforming hoses and raising funds. 

Here is a lovely letter from the CEO of the Fire Fighters Charity, Dr. Jill Tolfrey:

We are still open because of these donations, this commitment to generosity has made the story of Elvis & Kresse worth telling and sharing which is why we continue to find happy new custodians for our bags and belts and wallets. 

If you would like to learn more about what this donation does, we can share that it covers a huge range of both mental and physical health support; everything from group therapy sessions, to a 24 hour support hotline, emergency care packages, and residential physical therapy. If you would like to have your spirits lifted, please read through some of the beneficiary stories from the Fire Fighters Charity. 

We hope you all enjoy this season of giving, and thank you again for all your support.

This magazine is one we have come to know over the last few years. Why do we like it: 

1. C&TH is the first glossy in the world to attain B Corp certification. 
2. The magazines purpose is to celebrate the brands who are going above and beyond with respect to their social and environmental performance.
3. They understand that 'sustainability must be desirable, playful and fun, which can sometimes get lost in the story.'  

This is why they decided to launch our first ever Sustainability Awards, in conjunction with Journey to Zero, which is an annual live event exploring the vital connection between luxury and sustainability. 

With Lucy Cleland, Founder of Country & Town House

It was a total delight to be invited to these inaugural awards where we found, to our surprise, that we were nominated as the most Sustainable Accessory Brand in the same category with Anya Hindmarch and Mulberry. The lovely breakfast was enough of an honour, so imagine our delight to win!

Thank you C&TH! 

You can learn all about these awards here.