Local Entrepreneurs

Kelly

Growing up in Royston, I have fond memories of popping into Ladds for penny sweets, Royston Carnival and watching the Queen Mother open the police station. Not to mention a fond love for Days the Bakers who supplied my Dad’s business. I even met my husband whilst we both worked at Mica Hardware in our teens!

So when I moved back to Royston and had children, I knew I wanted their roots to be here like mine were. After a career in marketing, working mostly in London agencies I loved being creative, but I wasn’t quite ready to give up marketing yet! So I worked for C4B Media in Royston. I always loved baking since I was a child. I would also go on courses with a group of friends just for fun too. It wasn’t until two friends asked me to make their wedding cakes that I decided to start the business.

I knew I wanted to collaborate with local businesses, use local suppliers and get involved with the community whenever I could. Supplying cupcakes to Kooky Nohmad at the weekends is something I really enjoy. I’m also frequently at lots of local wedding venues including Burloes Hall, Sheene Mill and South Farm setting up wedding cakes for my lovely couples. I have recently returned to Royston Market each month too, which I love so much. My aim is to always evolve the business yet to be consistent with the quality of my bakes too. I love nothing more than hearing what my customers like and running lots of giveaways on my social media for product testers!

Josh

Following a seasoned career in FMCG Brand Marketing, it was with the introduction of my family that I decided that I wanted to go it alone and be closer to home. Firstly I created Sanders + Jay, Design and Marketing Agency specialising in Website and Graphic Design, however we needed a HQ. Having felt isolated working from home, along with the need for a relaxed collaboration space, I decided to create Kooky Nohmad, now a multi award winning coffee shop with flexible facility for co-working and at the heart of our local community. Most recently, Sanders & Jay have launched STONES Magazine, aiming to provide a platform for our local clients and further community to showcase the best of what Royston and the surrounding area has to offer, whilst simultaneously demonstrating our design capabilities.

Michelle

I’m a Mum on maternity leave with a dream of carving a path in the art world. My longer-term goal is to work for myself earning a living doing something I truly love, and with that having the option to work more flexibly around my family. After graduating from Loughborough University with a BA hons degree in Fine Art I was guilty of downing tools for a while as I focussed on a separate career path but when furloughed during lockdown it was a chance to put paint to canvas once again and now I’m not looking back. Since my son was born in January I have been making nap times and evenings count and I have produced a series of work including portrait paintings of iconic people from the film/music industry. Painting a face doesn’t have to be in flesh tones, I love working with colour and my work often includes vibrant tones and the use of neon brights to make my paintings pop. I try to be bold to create something a bit more stylised. As well as colour I loved exploring texture by layering paint, and using brushes and palette knives to make marks. I often incorporate the use of drips, splats and scratches to build interest across the canvas. I’m thrilled to work in collaboration with Kooky Nohmad café in the high street where you can find my work displayed/for sale. It has been an amazing platform for my work to be visible within the town so please do go and take a look and let me know your feedback.

Philippa

I felt compelled to set up Neo & Nessa after wasting far too much money on an ugly baby changing bag. The cutesy pattern screamed ‘mama’ louder than my baby and I despised it from the moment of purchase - I couldn’t wait to gleefully bin it after the dreaded potty-training stage. It was not just the look of the baby bag that got me down, but the annoyance that I still had to take a separate handbag out with me to house my mummy items. This was the inspiration for creating a detachable baby bag. A mum has many roles and I wanted to design a bag that could adapt with the day’s demands. Value for money and longevity is also important and a baby bag shouldn’t become obsolete as the child grows up. Taking this into consideration, I incorporated a versatile layout within the design. In fact, a lot of my customers have older children and use their Neo & Nessa bag for work, travel or as a regular tote.

The journey from establishing the business to trading has been slower than planned. It took me two years to earn the money for my first production run, and the company launch got delayed due to being scammed by a website developer. Fortunately, I’ve overcome this difficult stage and have now designed and ordered the first run of my backpack range. These bags will feature the same detachable clutch as the totes. The entrepreneurial path is never smooth but as long as you’re adaptable and never give up, you’ll succeed.

Jess & Will

We are Jess Esa and Will Heath, the co-founders of Books and Bao: a culture blog with a focus on travel, world literature, food, and art. As freelance writers, we have been published in New Scientist, Fodors, IGN, The Culture Trip, and many others.

After meeting at a job interview, our work as teachers took us around the UK, then across the world to China, Korea, and Japan. Teaching in these countries gave us a love for their languages, cuisines, history, and literature. Our experiences sparked the urge to write about the cultures we had fallen in love with. After leaving teaching, we set ourselves up as full-time bloggers, freelancers, and copywriters living on the road.

The digital nomad life led us across the US, then to Northern and Eastern Europe, before returning us to the UK. Now based in Royston, we explore and write about the local area.

Books and Bao was born in Korea, and is now a proud champion of world literature, queer writers, and indie publishers. Even our travel content leans on the literary and culinary history of every city we explore. While we’ve written about many different places — from Norway to Vietnam — our hearts remain in Japan and the UK.

When we aren’t working on Books and Bao, we write about travel, food, books, and Japanese culture. We also write copy on everything from business and finance to personal blogs.

Neil

Hi, I’m Neil Wise and I live locally in Fowlmere and own and run Ensum Brown Estate Agents in Royston, which we run from Kooky Nohmad coffee shop on the high street in Royston; a place I always remember as Woolworths where I would buy my pick and mix from when I was a kid. I have to look elsewhere for that these days.

I opened Ensum Brown in Royston and within 4 months we became the leading local agent, selling more homes in SG8 for now 11 consecutive months and counting. But it’s been a long journey, I do hate that word though. I started in Estate agency at the age of 21 and at the age of 25 opened my first estate agency office in St Ives, Cambridgeshire. After many years of opening offices around Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, and closing a few as there’s been some great lessons from many mistakes over the years, I’m now surrounded by a fantastic team of 18 and growing. My team and I believe in keeping the customer our central focus and believe in marginal gains, looking to continuously improve in every aspect of what we do.