Gift Focus inc Attire Accessories - March/April 2023

COMPANY PROFILE 111 When did you start up and why? We (Simon Morton & Kay Griffith) set up Ronin Designs in 1997 but at that time we were producing greetings cards. We didn’t start doing jewellery until 2009 and we quickly decided to focus on that, giving up greetings cards. What prompted you to launch the business? We both have a creative background in photography and textile design respectively and we wanted to work together. What challenges have you overcome since the company’s launch? Previous challenges seemed trivial when we were faced with the COVID pandemic a couple of years ago. The shops we sell to were closed, we had to furlough staff, and we honestly did not know if the business could survive. However, we focused on our retail website where we are lucky to have very loyal customers who were wonderful during that time, buying from us for themselves and for gifts. Tell us about your product offering. We design and make beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings. We use semi-precious gemstones mixed with freshwater pearls, glass beads etc. Colour is very important in our designs. What are your most popular products? At the moment earrings are so popular – they are an affordable treat when people are watching what they spend. Have any styles taken you by surprise with their popularity? Some ranges, like our ‘Heartfelt’ range which features Haematite heart shaped beads, you just know as soon as you design it that it will be a bestseller. Other ranges have more unusual colour combinations and are sometimes the ones that surprise us with their popularity. Recently we have used blown glass beads on some of our ranges which have proved very popular. How do you keep your designs fresh and current? Do you follow trends? We bring out ranges three times a year - in Spring, Summer and Autumn/Winter so we

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