Jenny Duff, designer & maker
Jenny Duff has been designing and making table mats and coasters for 20 years. Based in Broadstairs and Margate, she works with a range of designers to produce new collections twice a year, with the printing done in-house and all the manufacturing in the UK.
It was my intention from the start that the business should support UK companies, so everything that is outsourced (paper, packaging, promotional printing etc) all comes from UK businesses, as local as possible. In the past few years the business has migrated to online and I have carried on with face to face retail events, previously I have exhibited at trade fairs. My customers include Liberty, Conran and Selfridges, but I now sell mostly directly to the end customer, which the growth of the internet has enabled me to do, alongside an excellent service from the Royal Mail.
The SECCADS workshops at Resort were interesting, it’s still possible after so many years to come away with new learning, plus meeting the fellow attendees was a bonus. I very much enjoyed the mentoring session, it was a good starter for future plans and further conversations. It’s rare when working alone to have such attention given to your business by another and it renewed my thoughts and energy for the business. I find it very beneficial having an informed sounding board and the first session was really just a ‘getting to know each other’ one, with some takeaway actions to build on and develop. The more of this type of support, the better.
