Craft Focus - Oct/Nov (Issue 63)

THE COOKHAM CANDLE COMPANY cookhamcandles.co.uk Cookham Candle Company was set up by friends Alison James and Deborah Collins, and produces a range of high quality handcrafted container candles with designer fragrances. This has been extended to a popular range of diffusers. The company uses 100 per cent organic soy wax to be environmentally friendly, and to keep costs down they offer candles boxed and unboxed. There’s also a re-filling service for local customers on larger container candles and diffusers. The range constantly evolves to bring in changes seasonally. Fragrance is always key and they use one of the top UK fragrance producing companies, working with them to produce designer scents and keeping up with the moving trends in the fragranced candle industry. What benefits are there for a small craft business to being part of the Craft Coop? As a small craft trader, it’s invaluable to be part of this creative community. We’re able to get our candles and diffusers onto the high street through the shops in both locations. It’s so good to be part of a group like this – other crafters are always helpful in giving advice, feedback on a new range, and sharing any potential opportunities that may come up such as fairs and events. The Craft Coop also runs events such as a workshop in selling, social media promotion, or designing your shop space. How has it helped business grow We were a very little homemade concern at first, and while Craft Coop itself has grown over the last few years, we have also grown with them. The two shops are fabulously stocked with a wide range of beautiful products, it’s a real pleasure to be part of it and we’re now well-known in the area. We’ve a lot of repeat customers and it’s great to have our products out in the high streets. We’ve learned how to evolve and expand our business, and our sales have continued to increase over the years – it’s amazing how the word spreads around that our products and all those in the Coop are fantastic quality and extremely well-priced. ORIGINALS BY YOLANDE DENNIS yolandedennisjewellery.co.uk Originals by Yolande Dennis specialise in one- of-a-kind iced-dyed silk scarves developed over several hours to form individual organic patterns on the silk and gift boxed. What benefits are there for a small craft business to being part of the Craft Coop? There are many benefits to being part of Craft Coop, firstly having the opportunity to sell in a high street location without the financial pressure. Makers work alone mostly so being a part of a great community of like-minded people enables us to talk idea though and draw inspiration from one another. How has it helped my business grow? I was very fortunate to join Craft Coop at the beginning of their journey. My business has benefited greatly from the exposure my products get from the high street location, and being in one location has helped me understand my customers’ needs better and what sells well. craft focus 83 focus on