Jubilee fever comes to Regent Street

Jubilee fever has taken over the nation.

You have to have been stuck in the London Dungeon for a long time to have missed the build up to this weekend and no retailer worth his or her weight in sterling could possibly miss this opportunity to sell fun products and engage with the optimistic vibe that has pervaded the country as a result.

Those lovely people at moneysupermarket.com have tried to quantify the commercial benefit and estimated we Brits will be spending £800m – double the amount paid to celebrate the Royal Wedding last year. Personally I think that is modest and with the long bank holiday, all the street parties and festivities as well as the promise of the weather just about holding out, it will be so much more than that.

So yah boo sucks to those grumpy senior economists who are predicting doom and gloom because they say our manufacturers are going to suffer disproportionately with the bank holiday closures and the effect will trickle through to the British economy. Come on!! Get with the programme…and crack a bottle of British sparkling wine.

So I smiled to myself when I read a comment from Matthew Rice, co-owner of Emma Bridgewater, that well known manufacturer of pottery in Stoke-on-Trent. They originally estimated to sell £1.5m pieces of commemorative product and are already over double that in their actual sales.

Emma Bridgewater crown shaped dish, £100

It seems we Brits are more than happy to splash out, which is proven by the fact that this £100 dish with crown lid has sold over a thousand against an estimate of 300. So I guess Mr Rice has every good reason to say to those cynical economists:

“I think ‘bah humbug!’ … Get a grip! Shut the doors! Get out and have a good time. If you are so sold on your business that you can’t enjoy a few days of bank holiday, then something has gone very wrong with your life,”

Whilst I admire those people who are prepared to pay £100 in celebration, it is a little too pricey for me. Personally, I was looking for more fun pick me ups that embrace the occasion in a cheaper, more creative way. And I wasn’t going to be disappointed. As ever, those clever people at Marmite have got it right. Love it or hate it, you have to smile at this bit of marketing.

Love those clever people at Marmite

And for my favourite Jubilee product of all, I once again turn to those wonderful boys at Melrose and Morgan who always do these products so well with an understated elegance. They have taken their popular Battenberg cake, which is a traditional recipe first created by the chefs in the British Royal household to celebrate the wedding of Queen Victoria’s granddaughter. So it is totally clever of the M&M team to adapt that British historic celebratory cake into something that marks the current Queen’s Jubilee. No street party or bank holiday picnic should be without this. Genius!

The Jubilee Battenberg. Pure, unadulterated brilliance.