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26th March 2009
Business partners' stationery enterprise is moving forward
By John Goodwin (Western Gazette)
newsdesk@westgaz.co.uk
Martock mums Julia March and Sam Jeffery are celebrating landing their first order from a major department store for their specialised stationery range. Fenwicks in London is to stock the ‘Mother’s Manager’, a diary aimed at households with young children that is packed with seasonally-based ideas and advice to stimulate creativity and curiosity in youngsters. This marks a milestone for the pair’s company, called Jam Products Ltd (www.jamproducts.co.uk), which has been in business for 18 months.
It was founded by Julia and Sam who struck up a friendship at the gates of the pre-school where they took their children. The catalyst was when Julia was made redundant from banking giant UBS. It was six months from the inception of the company to the first products appearing on the shelves of a shop. It built up a chain of outlets among smaller independent stores throughout the UK, but the Fenwicks contract is being viewed by the women as a breakthrough. Julia said: “The Fenwicks order has really pressed our buttons – it makes us feel as though we’re really getting somewhere, and has boosted our desire to win orders from other major stores.’ ‘The only moment that’s been even more exciting was our very first order from a shop in Totnes, which made us realise that people actually want to buy our product.’
Sam, who has two girls aged seven and five, and Julia a daughter aged six had been talking about how they could have working lives which gave them more time with their families. But during the birth of the company there were many long hours. Julia said: ‘Sam had an incredibly demanding job as a senior neo-natal nurse, and for some time we’d been considering various projects.’ ‘My redundancy was the catalyst we needed to take it more seriously, and the idea of a diary that’s kept at the heart of family life, maybe on the kitchen table, started to evolve.’ They signed up to a business start-up course from Business Link. ‘Without it, I’d question if we would have had the guts to get to where we are now,’ said Julia.
After the course, the two women entered a period when they had never worked so hard. Sam said: ‘I’m still on the bank for nursing, but this has enabled me to have a work life that fits more around my family. But to start with we were often working to midnight. ‘It all became worthwhile and we get a real buzz to walk into shops and see our products on display.’ Julia said: ‘We both thought we’d had it tough before, but this was a new level. But because we were doing it for ourselves, we really didn’t mind.’
Sam’s sister-in-law, a gifted professional textile designer produced some images and a printer in Taunton was appointed.
Somerset entrepreneur Neil Coxon helped identify and appoint a team of sales agents and trading began.
If a problem arose the women used Business Link’s advice service.
Jam Products’ range has now expanded to include notebooks, funky children’s diaries, a grandmother’s handbook , a baby book. Work is continuing on preparing the much expanded 2010 edition of Mother’s Manager. The evolving range was well received at the Top Drawer trade fair at London’s Earl’s Court in January and orders are rolling in on a daily basis.
Sam said: ‘It was our first trade fair but we’ll definitely be doing more.’
At Business Link, adviser Liesje Salmon said: ‘They’ve come up with an idea and made it work in a very competitive commercial environment.’
‘In an economy like today’s, that takes enormous effort. They’ll certainly be very well placed to take advantage of all the new opportunities that upturn will bring.’
