What began as a small creative venture in 1993 has blossomed into one of the gift industry’s best-loved card publishers. Sue Morrish, Founder of Eco-Friendly Cards, discusses staying true to the brand’s artistic roots, spotting bestselling trends and keeping customers at the heart of the business A natural success story When did you start up and why? Our business was established with the help of the Prince’s Youth Business Trust back in 1993. Scott had just left art college and wanted to publish a few cards to help him buy materials for his darkroom and so “Glebe Cottage Studio” was born. (Glebe Cottage as that is where he lived at the time, on the edge of Dartmoor). What challenges have you overcome since the company’s launch? As the intention at the beginning was never to become a greetings card publisher as such, the business grew organically – at first we sold cards out of a banana box in the back of the car visiting independent retailers in rural Devon. We didn’t undertake our first tradeshow until 1997, which was the Torquay show; and we continued to attend that every year (lately in Exeter) until the last one, which was earlier this year. We also regularly exhibit at Spring and Autumn Fair, and this summer are going back to Harrogate for the first time in 10 years. It’s really important to us to keep that personal contact with our stockists. Tell us about your product offering. Most of our greeting cards are blank inside with a strong emphasis on art and photography that has a link to the natural world. We also offer notecards and Christmas packs. Our stockists like how diverse our art collections are with each artist we publish having their own named collection. I love finding images that use different mediums, for example we have print makers, ceramicists, oil painters, watercolourists, artists that use mixed media and collage just to name a few. What are your most popular products? We understand that every retailer is different and we find the diversity of our 47 COMPANY PROFILE
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