nectar online business of the year!

We were thrilled to hear we had won nectar online business of the year. Nectar business small business awards acknowledge best practice, great ideas and outstanding achievements of UK Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This award is judged by a panel of experts, including James Caan, Star of BBC show Dragon’s Den and CEO of Hamilton Bradshaw Private Equity.

“Everyone has worked with such passion and energy to get to where we are today so it is very rewarding for our community to be recognised as a prestigious online company celebrating success even in this current retail climate.” Holly Tucker.

Posted by jokite on 27 October 2010

just to say...

We love nothing more than hearing about the progress of the small businesses that are part of notonthehighstreet.com, and we were delighted to receive a card from one of our new sellers this week. Gina from rosiebull designs sent us a little note telling us how thrilled she was that she was finally able to quit her day job thanks to her sales through notonthehighstreet.com. rosiebull designs joined us in April, and has gone from strength to strength ever since. Her handmade glasses case was featured in our recent Winter Gift Guide and has proved very popular, and we also love her strawberry appliquéd handmade bag. Congratulations Gina, we’re so pleased you’re following your dreams!

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 25 October 2010

a spooky surprise from Edamay

We were treated to a Halloween surprise this week, when Edamay sent us a spooky handmade loot bag, which they had filled with goodies! The black felt bag (which would be perfect for stylish trick-or-treaters) was full of sweeties in which we happily indulged, and a range of Halloween badges, which would be great in party bags for ghostly-themed events! Thank you Edamay, it was greatly enjoyed by all!

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 22 October 2010

goodbye Barnes, hello Richmond!

We left our old Tideway Yard offices behind last Friday and moved into our sparkly new offices in Richmond on Monday. We’d been in Barnes for over two years, starting in one office and gradually taking over three more. Inevitably, the time came when there wasn’t room to squeeze in another desk and we wanted to be together in one office rather than three, so we moved down the river, to pretty Richmond. We’re now seated above the Pizza Express – give us a wave if you’re passing! We can’t eat in the Pizza Express yet, as it’s being developed into a wondrous jazzy flagship branch, but we have a feeling that we might become regulars during the winter months…

A very big thank you to Summerly, Cora and Gemma for arranging the move. It all went amazingly smoothly and the new office looks and feels just brilliant. And another big thank you to Kevin at Trinity Associates for the brilliant fit out and the delicious, huge welcome cake. We’re munching our way through it (and we’re not the kind to have small pieces!).

We’re still unpacking, settling in and discovering the many lunch options and shopping temptations that are around us but we thought you might like to see some before and after photos (the new office photos start with the bucks fizz…).

Now we’re all moved in, we’re refreshed and ready for an amazing Christmas. Bring it on!

Posted by jokite on 07 October 2010

a very good cause

To celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness month, Deborah Sparks and her daughter Verity (above) have designed a t-shirt to raise money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer. For every t-shirt sold in October, 20% of proceeds will go towards supporting the charity. This is a cause very close Deborah’s heart, as she herself is a breast cancer survivor. “I was diagnosed in the spring of 2008, and have been clear for two and a half years now. My husband has done lots of fundraising through running, and though I want to be involved, I’ve not felt well enough to contribute in the same way. So my daughter Verity and I decided to create this t-shirt together to support the campaign. Breakthrough Breast Cancer is the leading breast cancer charity, and the increasing survival rate of woman with this disease is all down to charities like these who raise awareness and develop treatments. Every 11 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with breast cancer, so it’s good to know there are organisations like these out there”. Click here to see Deborah’s organic cotton t-shirt.

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 06 October 2010