'I'm a UK entrepreneur - this is why Trump's tariffs are actually helping my business'

In deepest Derbyshire a family-run firm that has been going for three generations is the last British manufacturer of hand-cut wooden jigsaws. Just Jigsaws Ltd was established in 1973 and makes more than 5,000 puzzles each week, exporting more than 50% of them abroad.

As part of the Daily Express Buy British campaign, we are unashamedly championing UK-based firms, which are the lifeblood of entrepreneurial spirit in this country. Just Jigsaws could not be a better example. The materials it uses to make its products are all sourced and manufactured in England. Most come from within 50 miles of the factory in Alfreton.

John Trowsdale, 30, is the director, having taken over from his parents Tony and Vanessa, who followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and grandmother, John and Jackie. In the 1970s, John Snr broke the world record for the biggest jigsaw puzzle. His creation measured 6.3m x 3.15m, with all 32,000 pieces being cut by hand.

As well as wooden jigsaws, the company makes peg boards and other educational products, which are sold in countries like Canada, Australia, Norway and Denmark.

John says of the currently unstable world markets: “Ironically, I think Trump’s tariffs have helped us. I don’t deal with America and obviously everyone is having trouble with them, so we might pick up business by default from that. Our biggest market is probably Australia and we do a lot in the Nordic countries, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark.

“We now do quite a lot in Canada as well, and I am hoping to do more because of these tariffs. We’ve just made some native own-brand products for the Canadian market.” He added: We deal with the upper end of the market, serving schools and nurseries, so we have to be better than the rest.

“People don’t want to just chuck things away any more – they are buying stuff to last.”

Just Jigsaws employs 10 people and is seeking to take on another for the first time in four years. John says: “My grandad meant the world to me, so it is really nice to keep the legacy going. None of us do it for the money because there’s not that much compared to the level of stress you have to deal with.

“But I like what I do, and that to me is worth a lot more than getting paid a lot.” A network of companies benefits from British manufacturers like Just Jigsaws. John says of his company: “The timber I get from a company in Leicester, the boxes are made in Nottingham, the printing is from Derby. The pegs we use are from the next village over, everything we use is made in the Midlands.

“My dad was always keen for us not to be hypocrites – we are asking people to buy British, so we’ve got to do the same.”

Talking about the support given to homegrown small and medium businesses, he thinks the Government could do a lot more. The answer to kickstarting the economy, he believes, is for politicians to let people who have worked in manufacturing take the lead. “It wouldn’t be hard to find someone from independent, small manufacturing and ask them what they can do to help.

“Not once since we’ve been in Derbyshire have we had an MP come to us.

“We are the only manufacturer of this kind left in the UK. You would think a local MP would want to support us, they don’t give a toss to be honest with you.

“We haven’t even got a minister for manufacturing in the UK – how bad is that?

“But if I were in that role I would say that public sector companies should buy British, because it’s public money anyway, and it should go to a company that’s paying taxes in Britain. You can’t lose out that way.”

He adds: “Little companies probably pay a higher proportion of tax because they can’t find loopholes like the big companies do.

“I think if the Government really encourages small and medium-sized businesses they will get more money in the long term.”