Meet the Brand Director of GOOD NEWS, Ben Tattersall.

Welcome to our first blog post!!

For our first ever blog as KICKSLOVED we were given the opportunity to interview Ben Tattersall founder of GOOD NEWS , and when thinking about the brands we wanted to work with from a sustainable POV for our product ranges, there is no better fit than Good News. There are not many footwear brands that have been sustainable from the get go and are homegrown.

I am very excited to offer sneakers from the Good News range again and work with such a responsible brand. You can be safe in knowledge the product is kind to our environment. We love that! So sit back and enjoy meeting Brand Director/Founder of Good News Ben Tattersell. 

Lisa B. :How did you come up with the idea for good news ?

Ben . T : Myself and Nia started Good News back in 2015 after both working in various footwear brands and companies; Nia in design and myself in sales and marketing.

We were both visiting different factories in our jobs and we would always have conversations about the Industry and the damaging materials being used.  After seeing and experiencing the damage our industry was having on the planet, we got our heads together and started thinking of ideas to create a platform we can use to try and change the way things are done in the industry.

The name was born out of what we wanted to do, create change but do it with smiles on our faces and bring the world a little bit of Good News. We wanted the brand to be a reflection of who we are as human beings.

For 5 years, it has been quite an organic approach, building up a nice database of followers and bringing them on the journey with us, by being as transparent as possible.

We are always striving to improve the environmental and social sustainability of our products by decreasing our carbon, chemical and water footprint, whilst caring for the people who make our shoes.

Lisa B :How challenging was it when you got started putting sustainability at the core of the business ?

Ben T : Since day 1 our aim has always wanting to tread lightly and reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible but do it with smiles on our faces.

Climate breakdown will bring far greater change than Covid-19. We must think big and act fast; it is up to us to decide how we reshape the world and reshape our industry. We must overhaul the mindset that teaches us to appreciate objects more than the people that made them, and we must actively move towards a sustainable way of being that respects people and the planet.

In our sphere, traditional footwear manufacturing uses harmful materials and waste. Our industry is creating mess and polluting the world. Shoes are damaging for the environment and have a lot of components, as much as up to 40 components. So we have to be very careful when using the word “sustainability” in our industry because it’s being thrown around a lot.

For Good News, sustainability comes down to looking at every aspect of the supply chain; you really have to scrutinise everything and always look to improve and inspire change, that’s all we can do.

We want to be a positive, optimistic and encouraging voice in the industry to facilitate dialogue, debate and inspire action and inform a conscious change in the industry.

Lisa B : What products are you most excited about for good news this year ?

Ben T : For Fall 21 we are introducing new recycled cotton, renewable TENCEL™ Lyocell cellulose fibers, Vegea™ and Bananatex® uppers. Vegea is an Italian technology company using leftovers from winemaking to create fully vegetal leather (grape skins, stalks and seeds discarded during wine production).

Lisa B : How can the consumer get involved with giving back through the good news brand ?

Ben T : Feel free to reach out to us at hello@goodnews.london . We are in a lot of dialogue with our database and are always open to any ideas if anyone thinks we may be able to improve a certain aspect of the business. 4 times a year we also send residual stock and samples to various charities throughout UK, Europe and Ethiopia, sending shoes to people in need.

Lisa B : Does Good News have any exciting projects coming up this year?

Ben T : We have our first ever collaboration launching 15^th April 21 with H&M.

The conversation was sparked with their sustainability team and it became apparent our vision for the footwear industry is aligned, which is the most important thing for us.

It’s going to annoy some people, and it's going to make others really happy - depending on how you feel about us collaborating with a global conglomerate like H&M.

Our intentions behind this collaboration was to spark a conversation around the issues facing the footwear industry. We passionately feel the big companies need take lead for change to happen.

We decided that this collaboration was the right decision to hopefully inspire action and inspire action and inform a conscious change in the industry. We feel that in order to create real change, grass roots brands like us need to collaborate with the big guys in order to create change.

Yes, this collaboration is not the sole solution to the complex issues facing people and the planet today, but we are trying our best everyday to be the best we can be.

We all need to work alongside each other to help create a positive change. The world needs unity right now.