Next Monday (14 February 2022) will mark five years since Think Sandwell launched #MadeInSandwell Monday.

#MadeInSandwell Monday is our way of celebrating everything great that’s been manufactured, engineered, produced, grown, devised, dreamed up or delivered in the borough of Sandwell.

We aim to publish a profile of a different Sandwell organisation every week, in a bid to tell the world about the talent and diversity of businesses and organisations in our borough. We always want more!

Since Monday 13 February 2017 we have published nearly 150 profiles of Sandwell organisations – including a supplier of bedding to the Queen’s horses, and a company that has made Shaun the Sheep statuettes for animation wonders Aardman.

It is not only businesses that we cover with #MadeInSandwell Monday. Over the past few years we’ve written profiles of Black Country Women’s Aid, Sandwell College and Sandwell Adult and Family Learning.

Sometimes we like to think a little differently. In 2019 we wrote a celebratory article on the plaque erected to mark the West Bromwich birthplace of Thin Lizzy star Phil Lynott, and gave a round-up of the best South Asian restaurants in Sandwell. In 2018 we enjoyed writing about the Lions of the Great War statue in Smethwick. In December 2021 we wrote a #MadeInSandwell Christmas gift guide to items and experiences you can buy to support local businesses.

Some businesses have featured in #MadeInSandwell Monday more than once. In 2017 we covered CMT Engineering in Cradley Heath, whose local story goes back nearly a century. In 2019 we revisited the company and interviewed its CEO, Anjali Agrawal.

Anjali said: “Both the stories were very positive. They are framed and displayed on our wall in the foyer. Thanks again for them”.

How does #MadeInSandwell Monday work?

Generally, we approach the organisations that we’d like to profile. They’re usually businesses, but we’ve covered individual people and projects too, including a project carried out by the Friends of Dartmouth Park, a Bearwood-based mosaic artist, and Sandwell Council’s Urban Design and Building Services team.

To make the process as efficient as possible we send the organisation a survey to answer about their organisation and then our writers follow up with any further questions. But we also very much encourage companies to approach us – and would indeed love more.

We use the hashtag #MadeInSandwell when we share the stories on Twitter. This used to be rendered #madeinsandwell but we recognised that uppercase first letters for hashtags are more accessible and easily understood.

Our #MadeInSandwell stories help to show the range and capabilities of businesses in Sandwell. It’s worth browsing through them to see whether there’s a company you could collaborate with, buy from or supply to in the coming months. Spending locally is good for the environment and helps to retain and recycle wealth in our borough’s economy.

Go to our main #MadeInSandwell Monday page to read our stories – and maybe complete the form to request your own profile!