From Britain with Love

I've always loved sewing and making things. What started off as the challenge of creating the perfect home for my family saw my hobby turn into a viable business as more and more people asked me to make things for them too. My first ‘official’ product was a French style memo board – hence my business name ‘Pins and Ribbons’ – which is just as popular today as it was back then.

Although my business was originally run from home and based around the kitchen table, as things began to really take off I moved Pins and Ribbons to a separate business premises. We now produce a whole range of home accessories and gifts, including cushions, bunting, draught excluders, door stops, aprons, scented hearts and much more.

I lease a business unit in Eaglescliffe, near Yarm in the North East of England. It’s close enough to get to and from work and I can walk there if the mood takes me. The local area is really fantastic – buzzing with life, but close to the hills and the coast too if you want to escape from it all.

My business is all about making high quality products for the home which are handmade in Britain. I therefore go to great lengths to source my materials from this country too. We have a company ethos of using local services as much as possible. The wheat we use to partly fill our doorstops comes from a local farmer and distributor. We also work with a local courier service and our cardboard boxes are manufactured just a few miles away. Plus all of our employees are local people. On top of this we've been able to commission work from other local professionals t such as a copywriter, photographer, accountant, and web designer.

I have invested in top of the range machinery, but my biggest asset is my team of highly skilled staff – I’d be lost without them! I believe that it's the people who make a business. Every member of the Pins and Ribbons team, whether the office manager or machinists, knows how their efforts contribute towards our success. Together we aim to give every single one of our customers a first class buying experience from start to finish.

We are lucky to have so many popular products. We also continually look to introduce demand-led products, new lines and new fabrics to keep things exciting. We also find that once people have bought one item from us they usually come back for other products too. Our footstools are proving particularly popular at the moment, especially as there are so many design options to choose from, and our memo boards always fly off the shelves.

I love being in control of my own destiny and working with such a great bunch of people. I still get a buzz from every order that goes out. We get a lot of positive feedback from consumers and retailers too which is fantastic. We always aim to please and it feels great to know that other people love our products as much as we do! I also feel that Pins and Ribbons is a real family business and having two young daughters, I love the fact that they can come to work with me and create their own little craft pieces – a talent I hope they'll share with our customers one day when I am ready to hand over the reins.

I was frustrated with the mass-produced, imported home furnishings being offered by other companies. I wanted to give people a true taste of the quality and range of products that were made from start to finish in the UK. We have an eco-friendly approach to our business too – something which has seen us scoop several Oliver Heath Eco Awards for our environmentally-friendly approach. For example, we use the majority of fabric off-cuts to make other products and donate left-over bits to schools and community groups – helping to nurture the Pins and Ribbons workforce of the future!

There are so many proud moments when it comes to Pins and Ribbons that it’s impossible to list them all! However, becoming a limited company, selling our very first item and being named a winner of the Smarta 100 Awards - which was judged by Deborah Meaden of Dragon’s Den fame, Bebo Founder Michael Birch and other respected high profile entrepreneurs - are up there with the best.

We sell online via our website www.pinsandribbons.co.uk and via a whole host of retailers and stockists the length and breadth of the country. Top named stores we supply include Fortnum and Mason, Liberty and a chain of 122 garden centre stores. To showcase our products and to help promote new items, we also attend several trade shows every year, including Home & Gift in Harrogate and Top Drawer in London.

Britain has so many talented crafters and makers there are too many to mention but I love the glass work of Alex R who I met at a trade exhibition a few years ago. I came away with 100 beautiful glass hearts which hang from my Victorian bay windows and are admired by many.

I always look out for local produce when I’m food shopping. There are also so many great cafes and restaurants in our local area that we are spoilt for choice when it comes to eating out. One of my favourites is The Waiting Room in Eaglescliffe, an award-winning vegetarian restaurant.

Four years ago I got the caravan bug and am now the proud owner of a “Pins and Ribbons” home on wheels, so whenever we get the opportunity we always head off to Bamburgh on the Northumberland coast. It’s a really breathtaking place, which is totally unspoilt with stunning scenery and a magnificent castle and is great for the girls and our two dogs.

Finding time to unwind is really important when you run a business, even though it sometimes seems as though there aren’t enough hours in the day to squeeze everything in. Spending time with my husband and two young daughters, walking the dogs or a dip in the pool at our local gym all help me to unwind. The odd glass of wine in the evening is a welcome break too some evenings! However I always have my little notepad nearby to jot down design ideas and projects.