Business growth is a badge of honour for sisters

By Lancashire Business View

16 Oct 2015

An eco-friendly business started by two sisters from Lancaster is flourishing, thanks to support from Boost Business Lancashire.

Louise and Victoria Lawson started Bough to Beauty Bespoke in February 2015 after spotting an opportunity to provide event and conference organisers with a sustainable wood alternative to plastic name badges.

A little over six months on and the business can already count Jameson Irish Whiskey, Greenpeace and Waitrose among its customers. And they're now diversifying to offer a wide range of bespoke wooden products, from personalised corporate gifts to events signage.

Boost Business Lancashire is the £7.2m Lancashire Business Growth Hub, offering free and part-funded business support to ambitious and growing businesses.

After taking part in the Lancashire LEAP Start-up Boot Camps, run by Winning Pitch as part of Boost, Lou and Vix as they’re known, are busy planning further growth.

Vix explained: "Customers like Jameson, Waitrose and Greenpeace are a perfect fit for us; people are impressed that companies like those believe in what we’re doing. I’m not sure we would have attracted them if we hadn’t been encouraged to focus on our growth plan for the business.”

Explaining their inspiration for the business, Lou, 43, said: “Me and Vix were volunteering on an organic farm in Portugal just living off the land. It gave us the time and space to think about what we wanted to do and we decided we’d start a business creating bespoke jewellery by upcycling wooden products.

“While we were promoting this business at networking events, we had the idea for wooden name badges. We were a bit uncomfortable with going to all these events where everybody was wearing plastic name-badges that would be used once and thrown away.”

After speaking with a number of event organisers Lou and Vix, who grew up in Brookhouse, near Lancaster, began making biodegradable wooden name badges from sustainable oak and walnut, so companies and event delegates could reuse them after the event to reduce waste.

A chance conversation at one of these events led to a commission from Jameson to make bespoke name badges for its graduate trainee scheme.

Vix and Lou suddenly had a new business, but needed advice and support to help them identify their product offering, develop a growth strategy and improve their financial management skills. This is when they heard about the Lancashire LEAP programme, a series of intensive, practical, hands-on workshops for new business owners.

“Lancashire LEAP made a huge difference,” added Vix, 35, who worked in marketing and research before going into business. “More important than anything else, it brought our thinking together and made the business idea clear in our minds. We became much more certain about what customers we wanted and why we wanted them."

Both Lou and Vix realised they still had to shape their own management abilities and go from two sisters sharing a dream to a properly structured business team.

Lou, a former operations manager for a London theatre company, added: “Lancashire LEAP showed us we didn’t both have to be involved in absolutely everything. We did lots of exercises that taught us how to prioritise our objectives and not get bogged down in doing a million different things. We were able to think about what other sectors we could target to grow the business more quickly, which led to orders for other products such as coasters and menu boards.”

Rona McFall, of Winning Pitch, which delivers the Lancashire LEAP programme on behalf of Boost, said: “The workshops are designed to be challenging and really test the entrepreneur and their conviction to make their business idea a success. The programme allowed Lou and Vix to create a growth action plan with achievable targets. We are so thrilled to see the business going from strength to strength.”

The business, which works with skilled crafts people to make all of its products in Lancashire, has big growth plans for the next 12-months.

It hopes to win more work in the wedding and hotels sector, after recently being commissioned to create products such as ‘save the date’ magnets, place savers, and a table plan carved from oak. Other recent work includes producing wooden beer mats for an independent brewery and oversized key fobs and name badges for a hotel. Ultimately, the sisters want to create their own workshop and work more closely with woodland and forestry managers in Lancashire to source more of their wood locally. The business hopes to create jobs as it grows.

Latest news

1

Construction begins on new Civil Service office building in Talbot Gateway Alan McBride Muse Will Town Defence Infrastructure Organisation Jennifer Chard Defence Business Services Cllr Lynn Williams Blackpool Council Garry Bowker Vinci

Construction begins on new Civil Service office building in Talbot Gateway

20 May 2025

2

Skiddle raises over £750,000 for charities Skiddle cheque presentation to Alder Hey Hospital

Skiddle raises over £750,000 for charities

20 May 2025

3

Former Victorian Hotel approved for residential conversion The site

Former Victorian Hotel approved for residential conversion

19 May 2025

4

REVOLUTION PARK: Work starts on Darwen’s new home of advanced manufacturing Oliver Webber, Tracy Clavell-Bate and Tim Webber from Barnfield Group with Cllr Phil Riley, second from right, Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council

REVOLUTION PARK: Work starts on Darwen’s new home of advanced manufacturing

19 May 2025

5

Two Cuckoo Gins named winners in The Gin Guide Awards 2025 Mark Long

Two Cuckoo Gins named winners in The Gin Guide Awards 2025

19 May 2025

Background image for hub sign up block

LBV Hub

Leverage Lancashire Business View platforms

Post your news
Post your events
Post your offers
Build your network
Improve your SEO
Gain coverage in the magazine
Sign-up
Events
LBV122 May/June Launch Event
121 Lancashire Business View Magazine Launch
Networking
21 May 2025

LBV122 May/June Launch Event

Lancaster and Morecambe College, Lancaster, LA1 2TY

08:30 - 10:30

Sub36 Networking
Networking
11 Jun 2025

Sub36 Networking

British Jewellery School, Scorton, PR3 1BA

15:00 - 17:00

Lancashire Net Zero Carbon Conference
Net Zero Carbon Social 1200pxtrident 2
Networking
18 Jun 2025

Lancashire Net Zero Carbon Conference

Crow Wood Hotel & Spa Resort, Burnley, BB12 0RT

08:30 - 13:00

Lancashire Built Environment Conference 2025
BEC 315 X 315 Px
Networking
25 Sep 2025

Lancashire Built Environment Conference 2025

Blackpool Football Club, Blackpool, FY1 6HX

08:30 - 13:00

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course

Preston Campus, Preston , PR1 2HE

09:00 - 17:00

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course

Preston Campus, Preston, PR1 2HE

08:00 - 17:00

RISE - The Academy for Female Leaders and Managers
WENDY BOWERS RISE Illustrstion copy.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
02 Apr 2025 - 08 Oct 2025

RISE - The Academy for Female Leaders and Managers

East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, Clayton le Moors, BB5 5JR

09:00 - 15:30

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: May
Freelancer Meet-Up May.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
22 May 2025 - 22 May 2025

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: May

society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

10:00 - 11:30

Amber River True Bearing quarterly investment seminar
LBV Hub Seminars
22 May 2025 - 22 May 2025

Amber River True Bearing quarterly investment seminar

Cottons Hotel & Spa , Knutsford, WA16 0SU

16:00 - 18:00

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire
LBV Hub Networking
22 May 2025 - 22 May 2025

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire

Mytton Fold, Langho, BB6 8AB

11:30 - 14:15

Liverpool Business Expo 2025
https---cdn.evbuc.com-images-881365363-4862066883-1-original.20241023-085714.jpeg.jpg
LBV Hub Awards
23 May 2025 - 23 May 2025

Liverpool Business Expo 2025

Aintree Racecourse , Liverpool , L9 5AS

09:00 - 15:00

Advantage: AI – A Workshop for Business Leaders – May 29
Artboard 15.png.png
LBV Hub Seminars
29 May 2025 - 29 May 2025

Advantage: AI – A Workshop for Business Leaders – May 29

Door4 Office, Burnley Wharf, Manchester Road, Burnley, BB11 1JG

09:00 - 11:00

Advertise with us

Reaching 50,000 members, our print, digital and event platforms offer a fantastic way to raise your business profile and help you grow.

Find out more LBV122 Online Graphic
Subscribe now

Weekly news bulletin