A HUSBAND and wife team are celebrating five years running a gifting company that started in their garden shed.
Tony and Emily Carr, who founded Ringwood-based Create Gift Love, will tell an invitation-only event how they became one of the top-selling brands on Not On the High Street.
The company creates gifts from ethically-sourced materials, including Forestry Stewardship Council-certified wood and British leather.
Emily left her job as a pharmacist to start the business in 2012 when demand for her wood cufflinks rocketed.
A year later, having been married for only a few weeks, the couple decided to put all they had into the expanding business, with Tony leaving his job as an aerospace engineer.
Emily said: “About a month after taking the step to focus on the business full time, I fell pregnant with our first baby. Looking back, it sounds like a crazy time and I suppose it was but I never once doubted it.
“The family unit is a key demographic for us at Create Gift Love. Bringing Evelyn into the world gave me new inspiration for our product portfolio. Running my own business meant I still wanted to be present in the day to day running of it, so I guess I never really had a ‘traditional’ maternity leave.”
The company produces more than 300 products and has expanded to a team of 10.
The Carrs, who had second child Griff last year, are now able to produce up to 1,200 personalised gifts in a 24-hour period from their New Forest workshop.
Tony said: “Looking back, it is incredible what we have built together.
“It has been a real honour to work with prestigious brands such as Chewton Glen and the Body Shop as well as fulfilling thousands of orders for happy customers.”
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