Two 19-year-old friends from Pembrokeshire are running an ethical lifestyle business with the aim of changing attitudes towards environmentally-harmful products.
Will Brooks and Imogen Wright, founders of Little Orange Shop, make 100% vegan and non-toxic natural candles.
The candles, hand-made in a small barn in Treffgarne owned by Ms Wright’s parents, have a soy base and are free from animal products, petroleum and artificial dyes, using only natural fragrances.
Their current range includes coconut, vanilla, coffee, orange and cinnamon scented vegan candles.
They have now sold more than 160 candles and anticipate demand to grow as Christmas nears.
"As the summer months come to an end and autumn/winter roll in, we expect to see a clear increase in sales," said Ms Wright.
"Candles are more fashionable in the colder months, as people want to feel warm and comfortable. We also have Christmas markets in London and Cardiff where we hope to drive sales.
"With this in mind we’ve already experimented with new seasonal scents; as we’re also in full-time education we’ve worked to create a new range ahead of time."
Meeting on the art and design foundation course at Pembrokeshire College, Mr Brooks and Ms Wright’s shared passion for the environment and veganism, this, combined with Ms Wright’s experience in candle-making, led them to create Little Orange Shop.
Since then, they have gone on to fully develop the brand, website, products and packaging utilising the creative skills they learned on their college course.
Mr Brooks said: "At the core of our brand is our desire to create products that are 100% natural and this is something we're not willing to compromise on. We’re both ethically driven people, but we want our products to be accessible to everyone.
"Little Orange Shop wants to raise awareness of products that can harm our environment and encourage people to choose products that are socially conscious."
Ms Wright continued: "We know there is an ethical movement taking place across the UK, which we are fully in support of. However, some large retailers will brand their products as 100% natural but this often isn’t the case, with artificial ingredients still creeping their way into products, which is ultimately letting the consumer down.
"We understand it’s difficult to make drastic changes to everyday life, but hopefully Little Orange Shop will help people take small steps in the right direction."
The pair spent the summer trading at vegan produce markets across Wales, including those in Carmarthen, St David’s, Monmouth and Penarth to name a few, as well as representing Pembrokeshire College at the Pembrokeshire County Show.
They have set up Little Orange Shop with the support of Big Ideas Wales, part of the Business Wales service to encourage youth entrepreneurship in Wales. Big Ideas Wales is funded by the Welsh Government and the European Regional Development Fund and is aimed at anyone aged five to 25 who wants to develop a business idea.
While at college, the pair engaged in enterprising activities with the help of the college’s enterprise champion Karen Neville.
Mr Brooks explained: “We took our business plan to the enterprise team at Pembrokeshire College, which then referred us to Big Ideas Wales to assist us with making our ideas a reality. We’ve worked closely with David Bannister from Big Ideas Wales, who has offered us invaluable advice on the direction of our business and particularly areas such as pricing.”
Ms Wright continued: “Will and I have struck a good balance as partners, with him taking responsibility for much of the business decisions, while I tend to lead on the creative side. We’re both learning about business on the job, but knowing we have the support of David from Big Ideas Wales to call upon has been so helpful.
“As a two-person start-up with limited capital we knew we had to be innovative when starting our own business. Using our own creative intuition and practical skills, we came up with a plan to create a product that was manageable for us as a small startup as well as it being a carrier for everything we stand for. We felt the candles had wholesome qualities.
“The purpose of our candles is to make an impact within the candle industry but with the intention to later move into the cosmetics industry. This is to raise awareness of how we can be more conscious of what we put in our homes and what ingredients everyday items contain, helping to make the move towards a cleaner home environment and protecting our planet.
“Due to the tight budget we had when beginning our venture, we relied upon social media to drive our brand initially. We found that Instagram ( @thelittleorangeshop ) was the most effective way to connect to our audience, homing in our principles while highlighting our ongoing story.
“Since the release of our website we’ve introduced our ‘Sample Gift Box’. The gift box includes one candle of the customer’s choice, four alternative large tea light scents and a limited print tote bag. The thinking behind the sample gift box was based on our knowledge that people often sway towards smells they are more accustomed to and feel as if they want to stick to what they know and love. With this in mind, we wanted people to have the security of what they’re familiar with while also allowing them to try alternative scents that perhaps they wouldn’t normally. “
In the future, as well as cosmetics Mr Brooks and Ms Wright hope to expand Little Orange Shop to offer a broader homeware offering. They have already experimented with soaps, face scrubs and lotions, all of which are 100% natural.
They are currently preparing to launch their products at a number of independent shops in Pembrokeshire and have ambitions to eventually own their own high-street shop.
In the meantime, both Mr Brooks and Ms Wright are heading off to study fine art at Camberwell College of Art and Kingston University respectively, and plan to continue running Little Orange Shop alongside their studies. They’ve already secured places at Christmas markets in Cardiff City Hall and Clapham Common’s Winterville.
Mr Bannister said: “It has been an absolute pleasure working with Will and Imogen, who are very hardworking and focused individuals with a real passion for conscious living choices. Their understanding of this issue, as well as their development as business people, leave me with no doubt that they’ll make a great success of Little Orange Shop.”
