Use your “Noddle” to get the Best of British this Christmas!

Noddle What are you going to buy as presents for Christmas? More predictable DVDs? Yet another lookalike jumper from yet another huge department store chain? Perhaps you're taking a boring bottle of "the usual" wine around to parents or friends on Christmas day? Same old, same old...

We've been using our Noddle and trying to think of things differently this year. And we've come up with something we are really quite proud of and would love you to join in with.

We're calling it the "Best of British".

Utilising the model of Noddle we want to promote small independent businesses across the country. There are hundreds of small arts and crafts makers, cheese and wine makers, toy builders, farmers markets, in fact everything you can imagine. Wouldn't it be great if we bought our Christmas presents from these unique outlets this year? That way, we all support small British businesses up and down the country during these difficult times and our nearest and dearest get lovely, unusual gifts instead of a gift voucher. And the great thing is that it is often cheaper than buying from high street chains, so you end up saving money too!

Noddle will be scouring every region of the UK for really interesting products and services made by passionate people and families who would just love to have the opportunity to show off their wares to the 150,000 consumers who are already using their Noddle.

We've already found some great ones to get us started and this list continues to grow by the day:

Jo Ordonez of Earthbound Organics in Wales makes facial creams, soaps and body oils in her small workshop. She uses beeswax from a bee keeper living close by in the Welsh hills
The Summer Wine Brewery in West Yorkshire brews wonderful hop and malt laden beers with heart, soul and raging personality
Chantal Coady of Rococo Chocolates in London followed her dream, and her dream led her to making the most amazing chocolates
Dan and Doug of Bespoke Poetry in Teeside will compose a poem and cartoon just for you. A unique way for you to tell your loved one exactly how you feel
After being inspired by his grandmother's tales of farming and traditional ways of food production, Martin Moyden sells a variety of cheeses with his wife Beth in Shropshire
The Westerham Brewery was set up by Robert Wicks in 2004 after he wanted to bring brewing back to the historic town of Westerham. He uses locally sourced malt and hops to produce ales with a distinct yet traditional flavour
From a little village in Buckinghamshire, Claire Munday drifts into imaginary worlds of adventure, animals, heroes and heroines. From this, she creates illustrations and paintings, greetings cards, paper cuts and illustrated jewellery. It's all for sale in her little shop
Michael and Celia Frost have been building wooden toys since their first son Richard was born 47 years ago. All of their toys are made and painted by hand giving a personal touch to each and every one, take a look at them at www.michaelfrosttoys.co.uk
Denis at Handmade Cider in Chippenham produces beverages from the orchards, hedgerows and hives of Britain, offering a fine selection of products for Christmas!

Take a look at our facebook page for others and if you have stumbled across any Best of British businesses that you would like us to share, let us know (and tell us why you love them) and we'll tell 150,000 other Noddle users!