Well it's finally happened! After 4-5 years of working next to a building site, the work has finally come to an end! The brand-spanking new London Overground station, Dalston Junction, has officially opened. This connects Dalston by train to Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Docklands, and then to South London, including New Cross and Croydon. In addition they have finally given us our road back. Forest Road, which is off Kingsland Road, is now open. Mind you the layout has changed and it is now one-way coming from the direction of Kingsland Road.

As for parking, well for most people it's a bit of a nightmare, but for WILLIAM GEE customers you are invited to use our car park, which is off Forest Road, opposite our big warehouse. Park there and walk round to the shop in Kingsland Road.

I am sure that the new station will make it easier for many people to get to and from Dalston, which, if you read the hip magazines and papers, is the latest trendy area for bars, clubs, pubs and restaurants.

It's also home to a pretty decent haberdashery and trimmings shop. We look forward to seeing you soon.

We join all those in the fashion world and beyond who mourn the untimely passing of Alexander McQueen last Thursday morning. We offer our sincere condolences to his family, friends and work colleagues who are devastated at what has happened.

We have worked with Alexander McQueen and his company for several years and offer our support to the employees at the company and trust that the legacy of his inspirational design and amazing talent will live on in their work.

All the public discussion and even public upset and distress in the media recently about another one of our beloved British companies (Cadburys) falling into foreign ownership (Kraft) has made me think about whether it really matters whether a company is in British hands or not. We are all now aware that the cars we drive are no longer under British ownership, and Cadburys is the latest in a long line of iconic companies that are being taken over by a foreign conglomerate. Apart from the impact on the local workforce who are justifiably concerned about their future job prospects, there is also the question of the products themselves and will they change (let them dare change the name of Dairy Milk).

William Gee has noticed a similar trend over the last few years in our business. Of course we know that many of our customers make their products abroad (East Europe, North Africa and the Far East). It's much cheaper to produce abroad than in the UK where we have minimum wage laws, health and safety regulations and lots of red tape that adds costs to any production. The result is that UK factories inevitably close down as they cannot compete for supply orders with countries that have less stringent conditions. However recently we are witnessing an additional problem. Some of our major suppliers of threads, zips, and interlinings, are no longer supplying goods from UK warehouses and offices which are now closed. These products and many more come from various places around the world. I have stopped believing the letters we receive from these companies insisting that changes will be made in a seamless manner and we will not notice any changes to the service we receive. This is absolute rubbish. For years we were accustomed to receive next day early morning deliveries for goods we ordered for our customers we now have to wait several days and sometimes up to 2-3 weeks. There is deterioration in communication channels and service and most importantly, our customers suffer. We certainly try to keep our stock levels ahead of what is required, but trying to accommodate "fast fashion" providers gets more and more challenging.

We have noticed recently an increase in the number of small independent companies that are designing and making clothes, shoes, bags and various products. Perhaps we are returning to an age of "cottage industry" where designers, studios and factories can succeed in bucking this trend and that more product will be made at home.

Now after that little rant where did I put my Dairy Milk bar?

HAPPY NEW YEAR  to all our customers - old and new!

We look forward to serving you with all your enquiries, orders, questions and just for a chat if you like.

We are all excited by our new website and online shop and since returning from our Christmas break have started taking orders online. The website is not a complete and static site, we still have more to do but we wanted to start things off in the New Year and we will be making additions from time to time. Remember, if you can't find what you are looking for please call or email us and we will be happy to assist. A special thank you goes out to our web designer Adam, of Twisted Circle, ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) for putting everything together.

Looking forward to hearing from you and if you are in Dalston do pop in to our shop to say hello and browse around.