Hi Emma, can you tell us about yourself and what inspired you to set up your business?
I have always worked with market communications and event management, but after repatriating the family back to the UK after living abroad for over ten years, I felt it critical that I settle my young children into their new life in Britain before finding full-time employment. Both were born in Stockholm, Sweden, and although they had visited Northumberland many times, they still thought of Sweden as their home.
I guess it was my children that inspired me (and to a certain degree continue to inspire me) to stay at home and do something I find both creatively fulfilling and have a genuine passion for.
Back in 2004, it was Lottie who announced to everyone that “my mummy’s going to make bunting for me and put my name on it”! Well, in those days, the internet wasn’t what it is today, so I struggled to find personalised bunting online and nowhere local sold it. So inspired by Lottie’s complete and utter faith in me, I sat down and designed and created my first personalised bunting!
By the time of the Royal Wedding in 2011, I had so many orders for vintage Union Jack bunting, that I decided to set up my business full-time. I already had a name for the business, but it wasn’t until my marriage breakdown the following year that I decided to rebrand the company as “Emma Bunting” – a nickname that had been given to me by the North East wedding fraternity!
What tips would you give other women who are thinking about setting up their own business?
For me personally, the key is to be organised and to be disciplined. It is essential also to have complete faith in what you are doing and absolutely belief in your brand. Having copious amounts of energy is actually quite a good thing too!
Running your own business, whilst managing the house, finances, children and two dogs, plus maintaining relationships with friends and family is REALLY tough! In fact my friend texted me only today to say she’d forgotten what I look like! So maybe I need to heed my own advice!
I feel very privileged, I am surrounded by people who are like bricks, so if I ever need anything I know if I ask, I’ll have a wall of people behind me that I can lean upon.
We love your branding and your beautiful bespoke bunting and we’re very much enjoying following your new Bunting Bible on social media and your website – what are the benefits of the internet for your business?
I have never had a physical retail outlet. My whole business is online, so digital presence and associated marketing is essential to running my business. I believe developing the website essential to creating the “Face” of Emma Bunting and I use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram daily to interact with my customers and other businesses working within my industries. The internet has enabled me to reach a much larger geographical audience, faster and more effectively than any traditional methods, it is easy to use and it is free. It’s speed and connectivity to me is exciting as it enables me to improve my customer service by responding to customers almost immediately. Using my smartphone I can connect with my customers seven days a week – how’s that for customer service!
What are your future plans for Emma Bunting?
There are several different areas that we work with – the key ones being Baby & Children, Bunting Hire for Weddings and Corporate.
We are about to sign up to the UKs largest online Baby & Children website and are designing new ranges for them, which in time we hope to roll out further afield.
Our Bunting Hire arm is growing each year. We develop 2-3 new colours every year, depending on demand and current fashions. We work closely with a number of venues as their preferred supplier both in the North East and in London.We are currently building our “Bunting Bible” eBook that will be both our product portfolio and act as a guide book for brides to help them build a whole wedding theme. I’m really excited about this one!
Our Corporate bunting client list is growing too. We have been lucky to work with some High Street brands, as well as small artisan interior designers, and anything inbetween! We have developed new techniques so can now offer a hand-finished, printed or machine embroidered finish to our bunting.
We are developing the business into a specialised bespoke bunting company and will continue to make all our bunting here in the UK. Each piece is uniquely crafted, which to us, this is the essence of the brand – unique quality made British Bunting made to last a lifetime!
Photographs by Rachel of RJM Photography.
Name of interviewee: Emma Scott
Business name: Emma Bunting
Website: emma-bunting.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Emma-Bunting
Twitter: twitter.com/EmmaBuntingUK
Business type: Bespoke Bunting
Location: Morpeth, Northumberland