Lockdown boost for Clitheroe pair

Two Clitheroe businesses have reported success throughout the lockdown as the county embraced working from home.

Entrepreneur Ashley Pinder saw the UK's social distancing restrictions and shuttered entertainment venues as an opportunity to launch Cozi Hoodie, an eco-friendly version of the viral trending 'blanket hoodie'.

The product proved popular on its launch in December and despite restrictions easing sales are still increasing driven by the boom in outdoor hospitality and chilly UK weather. 

The hoodies are vegan-friendly and cruelty-free with recyclable packaging, and Cozi Hoodie has also partnered with Ecologi to plant around 300 trees which have removed nearly 12 tonnes of carbon from the air.

Ashley said: "I wanted to create a product that is high-quality, affordable and appeals to all. The one-size-fits-all blanket hoodies are ideal for wearing indoors or outdoors and are made from high-quality Sherpa fleece. They’re also vegan-friendly and cruelty-free. I created a whole range of colours and prints and I’m excited to launch more designs later this year."

I Want A Standing Desk was founded in 2014 by Nick White when he designed a desk for adults and realised the added potential to sell desks designed for children, too.

His EIGER standing desks are manufactured in the UK and made from sustainable birch plywood. They can be placed on top of an existing surface and folded away when not in use. 

He said: "Lockdown restriction saw loads more people suddenly working from home and being far more sedentary than they would usually have been. In many cases, without having a proper desk or chair and risking back pain and other problems to. Our EIGER Pro standing desk offered a solution and that’s led to a lot of orders in the last 12 months."

Nick added: "But our biggest market continues to be schools, who are increasingly recognising the benefits of active learning, especially for those with additional needs.

"Schools using our desks consistently report seeing improvements in behaviour, concentration and engagement levels, as well as neater handwriting and increased productivity. Not to mention the health benefits gained from increasing physical activity. And importantly, the children love using them."

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