Local craft business thrives online during lockdown

Cornish Whispers make a range of beautiful wooden personalised gifts, all designed manufactured and finished by hand in Rising Sun, Cornwall. The business was founded by husband and wife team Adam and Emily McCollough six years ago working from a garden shed in the bottom of their garden.

They built the business slowly and organically through the use of free social media channels like Facebook and Instagram to show off their wares alongside their website, and craft fairs to get their creations seen. As soon as the coronavirus pandemic hit Cornwall and lockdown began, it initially appeared that without getting out to the craft fairs that things were going to be bleak for the pair, however this was also an opportunity; More and more of the couples customers were moving online to purchase gifts, and Cornish Whispers found that people still wanted to support local small business such as theirs, so they ramped up operations by adding a Facebook shop which links to their own website and took advantage of Google’s free shopping feed in order to get in front of more online customers. They now have thousands of 5 star customer reviews and they have recently moved operations into a 1,200 sq feet warehouse and are looking to employ their first member of staff in the new year.
“Although we no longer rely on the craft fairs, we do miss seeing and talking to our customers, so we are looking forward to doing them again when permitted!” says Adam. In the meantime take a look at their fabulous range here at : www.cornishwhispers.co.uk