Fair Lux Focus On: David Crump, Cockpit

With a wealth of experience in the creative and craft sectors, David Crump head of business incubation at Cockpit (and long term Fair Luxury team member), has an incredible insight into small business growth inside and outside the jewellery industry. His contribution to the Fair Luxury team and helping small businesses grow is inspiring.

What’s your background and how did you get involved in the industry?

My career really splits in to three main tranches.

The first was spent in corporate land, specifically the brewing industry, working for a number of major UK and Global Brands. First in sales and marketing, and then in finance. This is where I learned how to “do” business.

The second major chapter was when I went to the USA to complete an MBA, alongside developing a consultancy practice targeted towards Small and Micro Businesses. Alongside this my wife and I launched several businesses of our own, some successful other not! One of these was a Green/Ethical retail (bricks and mortar and online) business, working with making communities in Africa, Asia and South America.

The third chapter started in 2012 when I returned to the UK to work with Vipa Designs as the Fairtrade Fairmined Project got underway. After that I took on the role at Cockpit, through which I work with 100’s of makers in the UK and internationally.

As Head of Business Incubation at Cockpit Arts, what part of your role are you most passionate about?

A core word for me is “empowerment”. Giving makers and making communities the tools they need to be able to develop a sustainable business model for themselves. The creative and social entrepreneurs I work with are passionate about their craft, skill or the social impact they are making, but they need help developing the part of their brain that looks at the business side of things….working a different muscle.

My passion is in seeing those light bulbs come on, and the increase in confidence that happens when someone says “I get this now!”

Tell us a little about the “Cockpit Effect” and what it offers to makers and organisations in the UK and overseas?

The “Cockpit Effect” is both a physical report that I write each year and the term we use for the impact we see from our work with makers and making communities. Some of these results are tangible – we know that on the whole makers at Cockpit deliver stronger financial results year on year than the craft sector as a whole. Other results are harder to quantify – as I mentioned before, confidence is a massive factor. Often this is best illustrated by using case studies of individual makers and their journey.

In terms of who we offer this support to, that has grown steadily in my time at Cockpit, accelerated by Covid forcing us to develop an online offer sooner than might otherwise have been the case. As well as our own 170 studio holders, we’re working with makers throughout the UK through organisations like QEST, Craft Scotland and Yorkshire ArtsSpace.

In your opinion, what is the biggest consideration for a jeweller or metalsmith who wants to operate in a more ethical way?

My focus is on helping makers develop a sustainable practice (I’m using that word in a financial as well as environmental sense). That requires them to be clear about how and what they offers relates to their target audience, their customers. The passion that these makers bring is inspiring to see, but can sometimes prevent them from seeing that they are not connecting with their audience. The biggest consideration for any maker, if they want a sustainable practice, is whether there is a market for what they want to produce.

What, if any, do you see as a boundary to jewellers and metalsmiths taking steps towards being more sustainable and how can they overcome it?

A major boundary is one of scale and capacity. It takes a lot of time to research and implement all the actions that will help develop a sustainable jewellery practice. That’s why we started Fair Luxury, and why other organisations like Ethical Metalsmiths in the US and the Scottish Goldsmiths Trust are so important. We all share the aim of making it easier for jewellers and metalsmiths to access the information they need, to pursue their goals and to reach their audience. We are so much stronger collectively.

If you could offer a piece of advice to anyone considering starting their own responsible jewellery brand what would it be?

Thinking about your core values is key, but also thinking about your target audience and their core values is equally important. If you can’t find that intersection, where there values line up with yours, then it will always be a struggle. The growth in awareness of responsibility and sustainability is evident for us all to see. That’s great news for us and the planet. However, it also requires us as individual practitioners to think more deeply about what we offer and how it differs from everyone else.