We’re encouraged to shop small and shop local this Christmas. The city of Liverpool is full of talent – makers, sellers and independent businesses selling unique and special products. Our small businesses have been hit hard this year and need your support, to make things a little easier here’s our pick of local businesses selling great gifts you can give this Christmas.
The Nest
Based in The Albert Dock, The Nest sell the work of wonderful local artists, designers, photographers, and makers. It’s a haven of all things design and delightful.
Top pick: The Nest Christmas hamper, £37.
Liverpool themed luxury tea-time hamper includes two bone china mugs, 100% cotton tea towel with screen-printed Liverpool waterfront design, a 50g pouch of Liverpool loose leaf tea and a solid hot milk chocolate stirrer.
https://www.thenestuk.co.uk/product/the-nest-christmas-hamper/
Kitty’s Laundrette
Kitty’s Launderette is a social business and worker-community cooperative, run by a small team of Liverpool residents, all our profits are reinvested back into our community, helping to make more good things happen from events to weekly activities.
Top pick: May Chang Scented Hand Made Soap
May Chang scented hand made soap with kitty’s launderette stamp, made for us by Liverpool based The Scent Trail. May Chang is a fresh citrus fragrance with fruity and spicy undertones. For many people, the aroma brings back happy memories of sherbet lemons!
Mi Appeal
Mi Apparel is a sustainable fashion platform based in Liverpool, created for all citizens to be part of changing the face of fashion. All mi apparel products are personally selected because they have been created by passionate brands who value ethical, sustainable, transparent with their business.
Top pick: Turtle purse by Eliza Eliza
Hemp and organic cotton Hays outer fabric and organic cotton lining turtle design by Angelique Buckton. 10% from each sale is donated to the WWF to help local communities conserve and manage their natural resources and help strengthen law enforcement to halt the illegal trade in turtles.
https://miapparel.co.uk/collections/accessories/products/turtle-clutch-bag
Make CIC
Make is a creative-led organisation with spaces across Liverpool City Region, it’s a place to share skills, make, fix and create; to learn and to teach. Home to talented makers, designers and creatives, all with unique products on sale.
Top pick: Self-care hamper
Make’s self-care hamper includes a pot of 100% raw honey locally produced by their bees at Make Hamilton, a £20 gift voucher to spend at Gina Christina Therapies, two A4 limited edition prints created by Make residents and a £25 that goes towards the wide variety of classes Make host.
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/885592100/self-care-christmas-hamper?ref=shop_home_active_6
Liverpool Cheese Company
Liverpool Cheese Company is passionate about cheese. They sell a selection of delicious, fine cheeses and gift hampers. You can also learn everything you ever wanted about cheese at their cheese school or join their cheese club membership.
Top pick: The gift bag of cheese
Presented in a cheese-themed gift bag, the selection contains a packet of oatcakes and 5 kinds of cheese selected to create a balanced and interesting cheese board.
https://liverpoolcheesecompany.com/product/the-gift-bag-of-cheese/
Becka Griffin Illustration
Liverpool-based illustrator Becka Griffin is captain at Mersey Etsy Team, supporting artists and makers to sell their creations. In her Etsy shop, she sells beautifully illustrated greeting cards, prints and skylines.
Top pick: Liverpool skyline print
A black and white print of my illustration of the most famous landmarks in Liverpool. It features the Albert Dock, the Catholic Cathedral, the Anglican Cathedral, the Liver Building, the Radio City Tower, the Bombed Out Church, St George's Hall, Sefton Palm House, The Chinese Arch, a little Lambanana and the Hope Street Suitcases.
Pinhead
We share a studio space with Pinhead and she makes the most beautiful bespoke enamel pins. There is something for everybody, from famous Liverpool landmarks to famous faces from TV and film.
Top pick: Scouse enamel pins, 5 piece set
The perfect gift for any scouser. Choose five pins from nine hilarious scouse sayings, the scouse dialect is so beloved in the Merseyside area and this pin collection will be worn with pride by any scouser.
Fox and Velvet
Fox and Velvet make bold & contemporary prints and cards, with a nod to the retro. They design a variety of prints from cityscapes to food and drink, all adopting their signature bold and colourful style. They design and print everything in their Liverpool studio.
Top pick: Hot Chillis Print
Add a bit of spice to the kitchen walls with this bright and bold hot chillis print. It can be bought in a variety of sizes.
https://www.foxandvelvet.com/collections/food/products/chillis
Homebaked
Our friends at Homebaked make the most mouth-watering pies and their pie vouchers are the perfect Christmas gift for the foodie in your life. Homebaked is a community land trust and co-operative bakery situated on the boundary between the neighbourhoods of Everton and Anfield. The project is co-owned and co-produced by people who live and work in the area. They saved the iconic neighbourhood bakery from demolition and developed it into a thriving community-run business.
Top pick: Homebaked voucher
Gift your favourite foodie a Homebaked voucher to stock up on a range of delicious pies. Get in touch with Homebaked online to buy your vouchers.
http://homebaked.org.uk/about/
Urban Workbench
Urban Workbench is a Nomadic Learning Hub created for individuals and communities to take control of shaping and making their places, whether simply picking up DIY skills or physically delivering and managing development in their neighbourhood.
Top pick: B+B table lamp
B+B is provided with a pre-wired lamp fitting with plug. Your hands are the only tools you need to assemble it! Whether you varnish the structure to express the wood grain or paint it, it’s a beautiful timber sculpture to light up a desktop, bedside or reading nook.
Ethos subscription
We’re sorry to throw in a cheeky plug but we think an Ethos subscription would make a great gift for anybody wanting to keep up to speed with the evolving world of business. Each issue is packed with sustainable and ethical tips and tricks.
Top pick: Annual subscription - issue 13 & issue 14
We published issue 13 in September and will be publishing issue 14 in April 2021, which means if you gift a subscription, the recipient will receive one copy now to sink their teeth into and another copy in April. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
https://shop.ethos-magazine.com/products/ethos-magazine-4-issue-subscription-issues-11-14
Lunya
Lunya is an independent and multi-award winning deli, restaurant and bar in Liverpool. Completely passionate about exceptional Catalan and Spanish food and drink as well as the whole culture of eating out in Spain.
Top pick: Paella hamper for two
Lunya’s Paella hamper for two includes a La Ideal Professional Polished Steel 26cm Paella Pan, Santo Tomas D.O.P. Bomba Paella Rice 500g, Santo Domingo D.O. de la Vera Pimentón Dulce 70g, El Lagar de Soto Extra Virgin Arbequina Olive Oil and Paella Seasoning. Gifts wrapped to create the perfect Spanish gift.
https://lunya.co.uk/product/paella-hamper-for-2/
Sumuyya Khader
Liverpool-based illustrator Sumuyya practices a combination of illustration, drawing & print works that predominantly explore place and identity. She creates beautiful prints to brighten up any home.
Top pick: Fuming print
A print we can all relate to this year, Sumuyya’s Fuming print is part of her Daily Doodle Series and is the perfect gift for that empty spot on the wall.
https://sumuyya.bigcartel.com/product/fuming
East St
East St is an independent craft business located in Waterloo, Merseyside. Specialising in concrete home decor, funky flowerpots and planters all hand cast using various techniques and natural colour dyes to make each piece unique.
Top pick: The Ziggy Pot
White concrete pot with hand painted Ziggy stripe. The perfect present for the Bowie fan in your life.
Merseymade
Merseymade is a home for Merseyside creatives. They stock a wide range of unique items and artwork made lovingly by local creators. From gin, jewellery, art & clothing there’s something for everyone.
Top pick: Liverbird hamper
Inside this luxury Liverpool hamper, x1 A4 The Northern Poster Company Liverpool Print, x2 Florence and Fox Liberty Face Masks, x2 The Graces Tulip Glasses, Three Graces Rose Gin, x2 bars of Toxteth Chocolate and x2 bottle of Fever-tree tonic. https://merseymade.uk/item/liverbird-hamper/
Root
Root is a contemporary plant shop stocking happy and healthy houseplants that can be collected from their two Liverpool shops or delivered to your door.
Top pick: Root gift voucher
A digital gift voucher allows your green-fingered friend to pick out the plant or/and pot they want.
https://www.root-houseplants.com/product-page/gift-vouchers
The LIDS
Liverpool Independent Delivered Services is an online shop and delivery service offering quality fresh produce from 14 different local suppliers. Born from a desire to support local suppliers and vulnerable customers after Covid-19 hit. It offers for sale everything from meat and fish, freshly-baked bread and cakes, to cheeses, wines and spirits, teas, cleaning and other household products.
Top pick: The LIDS festive hamper
The LIDS festive hamper supports seven independent businesses. It’s packed full with Christmas goodies from a selection of cured meats, Christmas chutney and bottles of fizz. https://www.thelids.co.uk/product/the-lids-festive-hampers/
B4biodiversity
B4biodiversity design and build bespoke healthy, productive and environmentally sensitive landscapes beneficial to people, nature and everything else in between.
Top pick: Liverpool Bee Balms
Liverpool Bee Balms are made from 100% natural ingredients – including beeswax from beehives in Liverpool. This hand balm will soothe, soften and refresh your skin with added calm through the scent, it’s the perfect Christmas gift for the cold winter ahead.
http://www.b4biodiversity.co.uk/shop.html
Granby Workshop
Granby workshop was set up as part of the community-led efforts to rebuild Granby, a Liverpool neighbourhood, that was nearly made derelict by decades of poorly-planned regeneration initiatives.
Top pick: Sharing platter
Granby’s unique sharing platters are created when different coloured clays are grated together and pressed into shape using a hydraulic press. The perfect gift and the perfect addition to any kitchen.
https://granbyworkshop.co.uk/shop/sharing-platter/
Willow and Blossom Botanicals
Willow & Blossom is a botanical candle and melts company. All of their candles and melts are hand-poured in Liverpool using soy wax, the finest Paraben-free fragrances with cotton wicks and biodegradable packaging.
Top pick: Petal Melt Gift Set
The Petal Melt Gift Set includes x1 Wax Melter, x6 Petal Soy Wax melts in your choice of scent and x4 unscented Soy Wax tea lights.
https://willowandblossombotanicals.com/products/melt-gift-set
Gift an experience.
One of my favourite things to do is go to the theatre and it’s something I’ve really missed this year. The city of Liverpool is full of great theatres who could desperately do with a helping hand at these uncertain times. Many of our theatres have started to announce their programmes for 2021 so take a look at what’s on and gift somebody the experience of the theatre this Christmas.