mumpreneur January 2015
A round-up of some of our favourite stories and features from 2014
Contentment in the palm of your hand
NEW
Gro-hush the only baby calmer that delivers soothing sounds that can only be heard by your baby
Experience it here
Contents
2 The Gro Co 4 Award Winning Websites MamaBabyBliss 5 Luxury And Little Ones Union Jack & Jill 6 A Head For PR The Fit Mummy Manual 7 Mama Natural Gracie Jacques 8 East is East Cute Essentials 9 KidsInGuide The Glass Dildo Shop 10 Hello Daisy Love Inc
11 Soiree Bags 12 Photography For Little People 13 Baston House School 15 Autism’s Got Talent 16 Sophie Hannah 17 Jessicas Recipe Bag 19 Abeille 20 Babycademy 21 By Victoria 22 The Typeface Group
MamaBabyBliss is dedicated to pampering and nurturing mums, babies, mums-to-be and dads everywhere through the different services we offer. Founded in 2007 by Justina Perry, after running successful baby and pregnancy massage and yoga classes and workshops in London and Hertfordshire, she branched out nationwide in 2010 with an accredited Baby Massage & Baby Yoga Teacher Training Programme.
Our online presence can mean the difference between our businesses booming or bombing. Your website is your shop front and the first impression that your customer has of you and your business. Being able to display an award on your website gives your customers peace of mind that your business is not only great but trustworthy too. Mumpreneur UK have a dedicated panel of industry experts that review and allocate our website awards on a monthly basis. It takes just two minutes to enter your website and costs just ÂŁ5. Just think of the difference that a seal of approval like this award can make to your business! Here are some of our favourite website award winners from 2014... will you feature during 2015?
Today, she trains over 50 people each year and there is a growing network of MamaBabyBliss Associate Teachers across the UK, who are running their own flexible business to fit in around their family needs. Classes have since expanded to also include workshops and classes for dads, pregnancy yoga and MamaBabyBliss pregnancy pampering treatments offered by a network of salons and beauty therapists nationwide. This is all supported by an award-winning natural product range and gifts specially developed for pregnancy, new mums, babies and dads including the popular Tummy Love Stretchmark Oil and the Mummy Baby Balm – an all round fantastic wonder balm for all manner of ailments! More recently, we have launched a new birthing/fitness ball due to demand from mums in our classes. Today MamaBabyBliss is the only brand in the UK and in the world to offer this full spectrum of products, classes and treatments. Justina has also become a wellbeing expert in her own right, often seen out and about and in magazines as a guest speaker or writer on a variety of topics.
www.mamababybliss.com
The idea for Luxury and Little Ones came about after spending far too much time searching the internet for hotels both in the UK and abroad which satisfied my slightly spoilt (eek!) “luxury” requirements but also, and most importantly, were enjoyable for my two little girls too. Luxury and Little Ones source and approve luxury childfriendly accommodation for time-pressured parents looking for a holiday or break which will be relaxing for the whole family. Luxury travel is, despite what some people think, still possible with buggy, baby and toddler in tow you just need to do the research before you go and that’s what Luxury and Little Ones does – we do the research for parents. So, on our now award winning
website (www. luxuryandlittleones. com) you can find all the information parents need, from accommodation which provides essential baby items to hotels which offer children’s spa treatments. We don’t forget the parents either so expect to find information on the spa, restaurants and any child care which is offered. When you book with Luxury and Little Ones you can expect to receive helpful, parent-informed advice on which hotel would suit your family best and you can have peace of mind that everything you need for a restful, fun family holiday will be waiting for you when you get there.
www.luxuryandlittleones.com
Founded with style-conscious mums in mind, Union Jack and Jill offers gorgeous nursery furnishings with a modern sense of a style for parents and kids alike. Designed, printed and made here in Britain, the entire collection is produced from 100% cotton to give the softest finish for little ones whilst wearing well for grown ups. Familiar childhood themes are refreshed with contemporary colours, bold designs and understated luxury to create a fuss-free homewares range that doesn’t compromise on style and, best of all, is proud to be British! – Hooray! Union Jack and Jill was created in January 2012 following a frustrated search for nursery furnishings that didn’t compromise home style whilst still making new additions to the family feel special. ‘It was time to move away from the typical blue for boys, pink for girls and standard childhood motifs – we wanted furnishings that were cool and chic for homes whilst still being comforting and inspiring for our children and we just couldn’t find them. So we introduced stylish colours and prints made here in Britain from fabrics as soft as a babygrow and called it Union Jack and Jill!” Contemporary prints in a confident, stylish colour palette define the collection; aeroplanes in warm red and soft blue soar towards bedtime over duvet covers, toadstools in shades of green and grey pop up on blankets, delicate spotted butterflies flutter over pillowcases ready for sleepy heads, naïve floral outlines in eye-popping shades of purple and pink bloom on sleepsuits and bold blue tractors chug along sleepbags. Supporting British industry is at the heart of Union Jack and Jill” and so the entire collection is proudly printed and manufactured on our native soil “which ensures we are only using the highest quality fabrics and making the most of British craftsmanship”.
www.unionjackandjill.co.uk
Ever wondered how it is that some businesses are mentioned everywhere? Pick up a newspaper and there’s a piece mentioning their latest product, switch on the radio and someone is talking about how they’ve been helped by that business or check out social media and see the same business with a great offer. That’s the power of PR. A Head for PR helps businesses get ahead of the media game and in front of their customer with free editorial in newspapers and magazines, interviews on the TV and Radio and great exposure across social media. We can help all types of businesses from dentists to photographers, cake makers to accountants, but especially like helping start-up businesses who want to dip their toe in the water with a small PR campaign that wont break the bank.
Founded by mum of 1, Katie Bulmer-Cooke and mum of 2, Kelly Rennie in 2012, The Fit Mummy Manual has gone from strength to strength, and has helped new mothers regain their pre-baby figure in a healthy way... no fad diets, no celeb air brushing and no pressure. International fitness model Kelly and awarding winner personal trainer Katie started selling their online products and downloads in the UK, but have quickly expanded their geographical reach, selling and shipping to the US, Australia, New Zealand, France, South Africa and Mexico.
Another great way to get your message across is via ‘We created the website with video. We can put together a short incisive video for busy mums in mind; it had to a small business for use across social media, on your be mobile friendly and easy to use. Our mission is to help website and at exhibitions. Prices start from just £350. as many mums as possible so Or if you are looking for a memento to commemorate a special occasion, perhaps a wedding or anniversary, it was vital for us to give away great content on the site then we can help at very reasonable prices. www. so that our followers knew they could trust us to deliver amazing products’ explains UK Fitness Professional of aheadforpr.co.uk the Year Katie. ‘Mums can learn how to assess their p o s t - p re g n a n c y a b d o m i n a l separation, learn how to flatten their tummy and eat healthily while breastfeeding just by visiting the homepage alone’ reveals Kelly. The product offering has expanded in the last 12 months and also boasts a membership site.
www.aheadforpr.co.uk
www.thefitmummymanual.com
Gracie Jacques is a business born out of passion, creativity and just a little frustration. Back in 2011, I needed a special gift for my sister and couldn’t find one.
Mama Natural is an online shop providing the very best organic and natural products to nurture mama and baby. With a vision to make the choice of beautiful, chemical-free products an easy one, each product is hand-selected based on quality, purity and design. From natural fertility supplements through to the most design and environmentally conscious bedside cribs and travel necessities, Mama Natural covers everything needed for bump, birth, baby and beyond. Whether you’re looking for health and wellbeing products, ideas for a calm, soothing baby bedtime, or if seeking everything needed for a natural home birth, you can rest assured that every product has been highly-scrutinised by impassioned health & wellbeing owner and mother-of-two, Emmy Sammon. “Whilst pregnant with my two children – my desire to swathe myself and them with only natural, soft and pure products became even more important. I quickly realised that just like me, there were thousands of other parents who wanted their children to grow up in an organic, beautiful and chemical-free world. I want Mama Natural to make your choices simpler, your lives easier and hopefully help you to feel empowered as a parent that you’re doing the very best for your body and your baby.”
www.mamanatural.co.uk
It was after the birth of my first child and having become an auntie for the first time, I wanted to give a personal keepsake, to commemorate the occasion, but found nothing that echoed my sentiments. As a designer, I love a creative challenge and became inspired to make my own gift. This came to be the first of many bespoke creations for family and friends. The feeling of giving such perfect personal gifts was incredible, and something I really wanted to share. And so Gracie Jacques was born. Today Gracie Jacques is a thriving business with a whole catalogue of handmade products —and we’re introducing new ranges all the time. From wall art and wooden plaques, featuring inspiring quotes and poems, to bespoke commissions with your own wording and photographs, you’re sure to find something special. Each product is hand-cut, hand-painted numerous times and carefully sanded for an authentic, vintage-style finish. We then make our own stencils and meticulously hand-stencil each product. It is then carefully packaged with a certificate of authenticity and a lovingly hand-made tag. I specialise in creating bespoke commissioned work, using your words, ideas and photographs to create a personalised keepsake. If you would like to discuss a project, please get in touch.
www.graciejacques.co.uk
Styling your home from distant shores. Styling youris home The idea of East East wasfrom distant shores. inspired by disappointment. The idea of East is East Disappointment at was not inspired being by abledisappointment. to find the Disappointment not exquisite products at we’d seen being able to find whilst travelling to the the Far exquisite products we’ d seen East. whilst travelling to the Far East. It was a time of nest building
and we wanted to create a Ithome was a time neststylish building that ofwas and and we wanted to create aa individual whilst providing home that was stylish to and welcoming atmosphere all individual whilst a who visited. Butproviding we wanted welcoming atmosphere to all items that were different to who visited.else’s. But weA wanted everyone dream items that were different to that seemed reasonable but everyone else’s. A dream unattainable until we decided to source the accessories we that seemed reasonable but wanted for our home ourselves. unattainable until we decided to source the accessories we wanted for our home ourselves.
Cutessentials first started producing beautifully personalised and handmade gifts for any age two years ago when a hobby spiralled out of control! We now have a vast range of baby, toddler and children’s gifts including Cubbies, our hugely popular personalised “redbook” covers, hooded baby towels, baby blankets, kids PE bags and back packs including the very popular Stephen Joseph brand, bath towels/sheets, and a vast range of other items. Our children’s dressing gowns were also featured in the Tess Daly’s Mirror colum! We also have a department dedicated to obtaining sponsorship for personalised Cubbies to be sent to children suffering from congenital heart defects, and bereavement Cubbies to be sent to parents who have sadly lost their babies/children from a congenital heart defect. This year we have also introduced further personalised products with the investment of sublimation and vinyl printing which we are using in a variety of ways aimed at gifts for older customers.”
So East is East was born and now we hope our unique, hand made products can help you achieve your dream. So East is you Eastare was born and now we tea hope ourholders unique,to Whether looking for engaging light hand made products can help you achieve your dream. softly glow on a summer’s evening, enchanting tropical fish Whether you are looking for engaging tea light holders to mobiles for your child’s bedroom or stunning shell curtain softly glow on a summer’s evening, enchanting tropical fish tie backs for your living room, there is something to suit mobiles foratyour orone stunning shellthe curtain everyone Eastchild’s is East.bedroom We’re not to follow crowd tie backs for your living room, there is something to suit and we don’t want you to be either. everyone at East is East. We’re not one to follow the crowd and want you to bestand either. Wewe candon’t make your home out from the crowd. We can make your home stand out from the crowd.
www.eastiseasthome.co.uk www.eastiseasthome.co.uk
www.cuteessentials.co.uk
We are delighted to have received a Gold website award from Mumpreneur and will display the badge with much pride during 2015 and onwards! We work very hard to make sure that our website maintains its fun and refreshing appeal and to have our efforts recognised is just fabulous. Thank you! KIDINguide.com is a one-stop family guide that selects and hand picks the best activities and events around London for you and your kids! No more trawling through the internet for hours on end. For every penny we make through advertising we donate 20% to Kids Company, an outstanding children’s charity run by the energetic and unstoppable C a m i l a Batmanghelidjh.
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What’s fun about KIDSINguide is that you can search by area! Whilst we dont believe that children should be overwhelmed with after school activities, we do believe children should stay fit and active, there is something for every child! Do enjoy and be inspired!
Everyglass glassbeauty beautyininAATOUCH TOUCHOF OFGLASS GLASSrange range Every Every glass beauty in A TOUCH OF GLASS range comes with with a a full full and and unconditional unconditional Lifetime Lifetime comes comes withplusa free fulldelivery and unconditional Lifetime Warranty, to all UK addresses. Warranty, plus free delivery to all UK addresses. Warranty, plus free delivery to all UK addresses.
www.kidsinguide.com
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We were thrilled to have received a Gold website award for hellodaisy.co.uk. As an online boutique, ensuring that the customer experience is the best standard it can be is vital to our success. We want to ensure that every customer that shops with us will recommend us and come back time and time again. Receiving a Gold award gives us the reassurance that we are on the right track! At hello daisy our range is small but perfectly formed. We wanted to pull together a unique collection of beautiful gifts hand picked for little ones, ensuring that whatever the customer chose they were going to love. By having a more compact range, we hope that our customers will find it easier to pick something they will be really excited to give or receive.
There is a very distinct feel about hello daisy, every thing stocked is a little bit different and fits in well with our band. On our hunt for unique stock, we fell head over heels with organic, Fairtrade and anything made or designed in Britain. We don’t limit ourselves to these products but when we come across them, we find it truly hard to resist them!
www.hellodaisy.co.uk
Love Inc sells a mixture of simply beautiful vintage, modern and retro home and gift stuff. 10% of our profit goes to our local Hospice. You can shop with us on-line or in our store in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Our best selling placemats are designed and printed here in Kent. Described as ‘Learning by stealth’ by busy working Mum’s. They comprise a set of 6 subjects; Times tables, number bonds to 10, number square to 100, alphabet, first 50 and 100 words. Children don’t realise they are learning, as they are drawn to the mats bright colours and parents love their modern design.
After appearing on BBC2’s Great Interior Design Challenge, I was thrilled to be described as ‘the one to watch’ by Sophie Robinson. I want to continue creating and designing innovative crafty and thrifty design ideas on my blog every week. In January I will be blogging about my best decluttering and easy peasy room refreshes. Nothing too time-consuming, just a few ideas to ensure our homes are fairly organised and fun. As a working Mum, both of these are essential to my life. Join us on our journey by signing up to our newsletter on our website.
www.loveincltd.co.uk
Soirée Bags is the home of luxury pre-filled gift bags. We are an online retailer with a range of carefully picked luxury items to suit the very young to the more mature. We have bags for most occasions with more being added all the time, including little girl Princess and fairy bags, boys dinosaur bags, stunning new baby bags, Christmas, corporate bags, ladies and gentlemen bags . Our children’s bags are perfect for giving out as party bags to the guests or as a gift to the birthday child and our cards are made with different messages on in case your bag is not for a birthday gift. Bags coming soon will be our wedding, hen & stag, every occasion will be catered for. Our products that we put into our bags are carefully picked and include “Taylor of old Bond street” for our men’s bags, “Manuscrpit calligraphy” and “Original Crown Mill” fine paper for our corporate bags, “Dress up by Design” for our costumes that are added to our children’s bags, “Natural History Museum” products in our boys bags, “Aroma Works London” for our beautiful scented candles , “Heyland Whittle” for our lovely soaps and lotions and beautiful products made by “The Flowerstork” in our baby bags. All our bags come complete with a luxury handmade card by “Valerie Valerie” or “100% handmade cards by Ellen Gallagher” and luxury handmade chocolates from “Hamilton’s”, “Maple Molly’s” or “Lindt” finished off beautifully in one of our Soirée bags lined with organza . Soirée Bags also has a build a bag option, so if our pre-filled bags are not to your requirements we will be more than happy to build a bag to meet your needs. So, for that special person in your life visit www.soireebags.co.uk and make their day with one of our beautiful bags.
20% off with code “MUM”
www.soireebags.co.uk mminogue@soireebags.co.uk www.facebook.com/soireebags @soireebags 0208 133 7262
For more information about joining the Photography for Little People Franchise Jan Massey 01207 299500 OR 07826841224
www.photographyforlittlepeoplefranchise.com www.photographyforlittlepeoplefranchise.com
Sally took a gamble by sending her son to a new and unproven school, but Baston House has paid off for the whole family in many ways
BASTON HOUSE SCHOOL
D E V E LO P I N G L E A R N E R S ’ S K I L L S F O R T H E F U T U R E
Sally Pettitt has three children, the middle one being 13-year-old Harry who was among the first six students at Baston House School.
Limited choices Harry was diagnosed with autism (PDD-NOS) when he was four years old but was fortunate enough to be able to attend a mainstream primary school, which was more than able to adequately address what Sally believed were his needs at the time. However, when the time came to consider his secondary education, Sally had to reassess the situation, especially in light of the fact that their Local Education Authority offered only a limited choice of settings. “His primary school had served him very well but they accepted that Harry needed more than a mainstream school could provide at the next stage,” Sally says. “The only option we were given by the LEA was not geared specifically to children with autism and, as a child who is very able on the autistic spectrum, we felt that Harry would plateau academically if he was not given the right opportunities.”
www.sophie-hannah.co.uk hello@sophie-hannah.co.uk 07557 407 915
Every week Jessica and her team plan delicious, healthy and exciting recipes All you have to do is order online. You can choose between a “family bag” with 4 meals for 4 people or a “couples bag” with 3 meals for 2 people. On Monday evenings the bags are delivered directly to your door. All the ingredients are fresh and come from local suppliers. The meat and fish has never been frozen and the fish is responsibly sourced taking into account the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Here is a sample recipe from Jessica’s Recipe Bag. This warm healthy fish soup is perfect for a family meal. The fresh herbs add lots of lovely flavours and it has many health benefits. It is high in protein and antioxidants especially vitamins A, C and B6. For added fibre serve with crusty wholemeal bread.
Chunky Fish Soup with Warm French Bread & Garlicky Crème Fraiche Preparation time 10 minutes Cooking time 30 minutes Serves 4
How to cook
INGREDIENTS 350g cod fillets 200g king prawns 200g crème fraiche 1 fennel bulb 1 carrot 1 onion 1 tsp sugar 1 tin chopped tomatoes 800ml vegetable stock 2 garlic cloves crushed 50g chopped dill 1 tbsp olive oil 50g chopped parsley French bread Salt Pepper
2 To make the base of the soup. Cut off the top of the fennel bulb and remove the outer layer then slice finely. Finely chop the onion and carrot. In a large saucepan heat the olive oil, sauté the onion, carrot and fennel for 5 minutes (should be soft), add the chopped tomatoes, crushed garlic, sugar, salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for a further 20 minutes with the lid on
1 Pre heat the oven to 180C
3 While the base of the soup is cooking, cut the cod into chunks (aprox 2.5cm square). Finely chop the parsley and dill removing any large stalks, set to one side. In a small bowl mix together the crème fraiche and crushed garlic 4 When the base has been cooking for 20 minutes in total add the chopped dill, parsley, cod and king prawns. Simmer for 3 minutes until cod and prawns are cooked 5 Serve the soup in a bowl with a dollop of the garlic crème fraiche and buttered warm French bread
We take the stress out of weekday cooking We deliver a bag full of lovely ingredients & inspiring recipes to your door in London – so you can enjoy cooking at home For more information visit
jessicasrecipebag.co.uk
I am Jessica Andersson, a working mother with teenage children. All recipes are developed and tested by me. I am also a fully qualified nutritional therapist and experienced cook, specialised in meal planning for individuals and families.
50% off your first bag Use code MUMSUK
Baby Cellular blanket
The perfect Layer
www.abeille.co.uk
“We believe you are your baby’s best playmate” I have always thought that one day I’ll run my own business. On maternity leave I enjoyed the break from work and the opportunity to focus all of my attention on my wonderful young son. One thing I hadn’t appreciated when becoming a parent was the importance of keeping precious playtime interesting and fun. I also wanted to make sure I was doing all I could to support his development. I looked around the shops, searched the Internet, and I couldn’t find anything that would help me in my quest for quality playtime with him. They say necessity is the mother of invention, so I began developing a product myself – and the Babycademy idea was born. The premise behind Babycademy is that you are your baby’s best playmate. My aim was to offer parents a box of fun you could enjoy in the home, providing you with everything you need to both entertain and support your baby’s development needs at every age and stage.
Introducing Bernice Hewson, Creator and Director of Babycademy Ltd Mumpreneur Award Finalist Best Product 2014 After running focus groups to test the concept, engaging with child development experts, music producers, illustrators, writing a book, designing a puppet and establishing the Babycademy brand I am extremely proud to have launched ‘Music Time’ to the market. We have already enjoyed many successes, our highlight to date has been winning two Loved By Parents awards that are voted for by the mums and dads and compete with all of the major infant/preschool brands. I love what we have been able to do so far, and my appetite to continue to develop the business further only gets bigger.
www.Babycademy.co.uk
By Victoria was created after I was made redundant whilst pregnant with my second child, I repeatedly applied for jobs during my pregnancy but with no success. When my son was born I decided to borrow an aunts old sewing machine and with a copy of Cath Kidston’s book beside me I began to sew cushions, I used to knit and sew with my Grandmother as a child and felt like doing something creative again. Friends started to comment on my cushions and encouraged me to start a facebook page and basically the madness began, within hours I had sold cushions to local customers and by the autumn of that year I started to think how I could possibly make my cushions more unique, so thought I should see how personalizing them would go, I bought a second hand basic embroidery machine that I spent a full night trying to install software for until about 4am, this paid off when I first made an “always remember” cushion, as once I advertised it on my facebook page I could barely keep up with the demand. With success of the personalised cushions I realised I needed another larger embroidery machine that would open up more avenues such as more detailed cushions as well as personalised children’s soft toys and clothing, so a few weeks later a large delivery arrived which needed 2 men to carry it containing my pride and joy embroidery machine. From the arrival of this machine my business went manic, I was able to create a new cushion that I called the “family cushion” which consisted of stick people that my customers could customise with clothing, hair colours and have the persons name below them, again I struggled to keep up with orders for these! My soft toy and clothing range also became incredibly popular which resulted in me providing items for Emily Blunt’s new baby, Tom Cruise and Katie Holme’s Daughter, Siri and for Kim Kardashian’s new baby! I decided it was then time to really get my website up and running so I designed it myself and eventually after many months of work I was happy with how it looked and much to my delight I nabbed a gold website award from Mumpreneur UK this year ! I was then nominated for a Mumpreneur award and delighted to find out I made it through to the finals that take place on 8th November this year ! From this boost my confidence soared, I am now in the process of setting up & building my second website (www. thequirkytreehouse.co.uk) which will be non personalised quirky gifts, as well as starting a facebook group (Autism & ADHD Parents North Down) for local mum and dads who have children with Autism and other special needs and I am taking part in a sponsored mountain climb in October to raise funds for a local Autism charity.
I am a great believer in things happening for reasons, over the last 3 years of launching and building my business my youngest son was diagnosed with autism, it has meant a lot of sleepless nights, strict routine as well as endless hospital and therapy appointments, sometimes three a week and on one occasion three in a day ! When I do get the odd free minute to sit back and contemplate everything, I have realized I am now doing the job I was meant to do, the redundancy and job knock backs were all part of this plan for me to be where I am today so I can be with my son for all his appointments and to be at home full time to provide him with everything he needs, it also means I am at home for my eldest son who is nine, so I never have to miss a sports day or school play again. Yes juggling everything is hard at times and many nights I’m still in my studio at 2am but I wouldn’t change a thing as I have the best of both worlds being with my boys and working at something I love. I am extremely pleased about being a finalist in the future star category and I would love to bring home the award so it could sit alongside the photo of my boys in my studio, so at 2am when designs aren’t going to plan and I feel like crying I can look at both of these and remember why I am doing this and how much I have achieved.
www.byvictoria.co.uk
no bold gestures. no big claims
just clever results driven design & marketing services... that work
“
I’m feeling very looked after and I’m delighted with the quality/pace of delivery of my project. #boom #brightfuture #inspired
“
KERRY GOVER - OWNER - PINKBOX BOUTIQUE
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