Bombus, last year’s winner of Small Business of the Year, have once again thrown their hat into the ring for the Swale Business Awards. A true local success story, Bombus was founded by Amelia Coward in 2002 from her kitchen table.
The business, which sells personalised, hand-made gifts and greetings cards; home accessories and limited edition art, now employs eight permanent employees, as well as six part-time freelancers.
Amelia spoke about the development of her business: “I’m thrilled with how the business has grown over the last fourteen years. We’re now selling our products both through our own dedicated e-commerce site, as well as through notonthehighstreet.com, which has expanded our reach dramatically.”
Bombus has a broad spectrum of customers, ranging from young, trendsetting Millenials all the way to new digital “silver surfers” who are looking for tasteful ways to decorate and accessorise their homes. Moving beyond the online sphere, their stockists now include household names such as Liberty of London, Selfridges and WHSmith.They have also developed their customer base to beyond the UK, and now have customers across Australia and the USA. They are also expanding into China and Singapore.
Amelia discussed why she had entered the business into the 2016 Swale Business Awards, “We were extremely proud to be named the Swale Small Business of the Year last year and since winning the business has progressed even further. For example, in the first six months of the year we have achieved 95% positive reviews on notonthehighstreet.com. Throughout everything, we have remained true to ourselves and to our brand; we play to our strengths; constantly refining and retuning them. We are proud to be a business in Swale and we never let failure hold us back.”
Bombus
Well Oast
Brenley Lane
Faversham,
ME13 9LY
01227 751 615
www.bombus.co.uk